Spam Score is a metric from Moz that estimates how likely a domain is to be spammy, based on how many features it shares with sites Moz observed to be penalized or removed from Google's results. It is shown as a percentage. Other tools offer similar toxicity or spam ratings. Google does not use any of these scores.
How it works
Moz identifies features common to sites it found penalized or banned, such as thin content, few branded links or unusual link patterns, and checks how many of them a domain shares. A higher percentage means more overlap with that group. It does not mean Google has taken any action against the site.
Good uses
Spam Score is useful as a filter, not a verdict.
- Screening long outreach prospect lists
- Flagging linking domains to review during a link audit
- Spotting likely network or farm sites in a competitor's profile
Why not to act on it alone
Legitimate small sites, new sites and niche publications can score high because they share surface features with spam. Disavowing links only because of a high vendor spam score can remove good links. Google's own guidance on disavowing focuses on links you created or that were created for you, especially where there is a manual action.
Example
A false alarm
During a link audit, an illustrative clinical trial software company, Trialfenwick, sees a high Spam Score on a small domain linking to its whitepaper. A manual check shows it is a one-person blog run by a respected researcher with few pages and few links. The link stays.
Common mistakes
Disavowing by score threshold
Bulk disavowing everything above a number removes good links along with bad ones.
Comparing spam scores across tools
Each tool's model is different, and the numbers do not translate.
Questions
The score itself does nothing. It is Moz's estimate. What matters is whether your site or links actually break Google's policies.
