Links created or arranged primarily to manipulate search rankings, including manipulative paid placements and excessive link exchanges.
Link spam refers to links created or arranged primarily to manipulate search rankings. It concerns the purpose and implementation of a link arrangement, not simply the presence of links or the fact that a business markets itself. Useful editorial references and transparently qualified advertising have different roles from manufactured ranking signals.
Google’s examples include manipulative paid placements and excessive exchanges. Commercial arrangements should use appropriate relationship qualifications rather than disguise paid links as independent recommendations. A visible advertising label and machine-readable link qualification are related responsibilities, not interchangeable guarantees that every requirement has been met.
A business can encounter link spam through a supplier promising easy ranking gains. The package may emphasize counts, authority scores, exact-match wording or secrecy while providing little explanation of audience value. Ask what the work actually creates and why a real reader would benefit. A report showing many delivered URLs is not proof of sound marketing.
Takeaway: Buy legitimate exposure or useful work, not concealed ranking manipulation. Require clear methods and appropriate treatment of commercial links from anyone working on your behalf.
Example
A retailer sponsors an industry event and receives a clearly qualified sponsor link on the event page. That is different from paying for supposedly independent reviews whose main purpose is inserting unqualified keyword links. Both involve spending money, but the relationships and representations are different.
What to check
Review sample placements and contract terms before authorizing a campaign. Keep records of commissioned work. If previous activity appears manipulative, investigate the actual evidence and appropriate remediation rather than automatically blaming every unfamiliar backlink or submitting a blanket disavow list.
For more detail, see Google link spam policies.