White Hat SEO vs Black Hat SEO always reminds me of Spy vs Spy.
I have worked across all the industries where in some cases black hat SEO techniques were employed. In 2024 Google updated its core algorithm. This has had a profound effect on SEO. For those that have employed Black Hat SEO the impact of these updates was very clear, and the drops were steep. The biggest issue for most of the e-commerce, affiliate and I-gaming site (online casinos) was the buying of backlinks. The second biggest issue was using AI SEO incorrectly by trying to spin mass meta descriptions for game / product variations. Recovery from this is going to be a fairly long road.
Black Hat Links and the Disavow Tool 2025
Black Hat link buying is a messy business, the links are impossible to control no matter how much you pay. Your expected TTL is never what you pay for. These websites that sell the bulk links themselves are a product of black hat SEO techniques. the first thing my clients and students asked was about disavowing the links. Most SEOs think that this is an answer – it is not.
Does Google Count Black Hat Links?
No, Google does not count unhealthy backlinks as negative SEO does exist. However by declaring a disavow file, you are also telling Google that you have done Black Hat SEO. Most SEOs also make the mistake where they use one of the SEO tools. These tools have created their own algo (they are not Google) to determine what they label “toxic”. Google will tell you, there is no such thing as a toxic link.
My solution to 2025 disavow techniques:
- If a disavow file does exist – its time to make a final version
- copy the list out of the 3rd party tool,
- run it against the disavow file to compare,
- make sure that any links that are in the disavow file form the 3rd party tool that are in search console are removed (they are google counted if they are in search console)
- upload the update disavow file, and move on with 2025 SEO white hat techniques
- it is fair to say once the API is discontinued by Google, there will be no more disavow file

Black Hat SEO – Impact / penalty
Googles 2025 SEO Focus
In 2025, Google’s focus on user experience and artificial intelligence has made White Hat SEO even more crucial. Black Hat techniques are increasingly ineffective and risky, as Google’s algorithms become more sophisticated at detecting and penalising manipulative tactics.
Feature | White Hat SEO | Black Hat SEO |
---|---|---|
Goal | Improve search engine rankings by providing value to users and following search engine guidelines. | Manipulate search engine algorithms to achieve higher rankings, often disregarding user experience. |
Methods |
|
|
Risk | Minimal risk of penalties from search engines. | High risk of penalties, including manual actions and de-indexing from search results. |
Sustainability | Sustainable long-term results. | Short-term gains followed by potential penalties and loss of rankings. |
User Experience | Prioritises user experience and satisfaction. | Often neglects user experience. |
Ethical Considerations | Adheres to ethical principles and respects search engine guidelines. | Violates ethical principles and search engine guidelines. |
Key SEO Considerations for 2025:
- E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness): Google prioritises content from authoritative sources.
- Mobile-First Indexing: Ensure your website is mobile-friendly.
- Page Experience: Optimize for Core Web Vitals (LCP, FID, CLS) to improve user experience.
- Entity-Based Search: Focus on creating high-quality, in-depth content that addresses user intent.
- Voice Search Optimization: Optimise for long-tail keywords and conversational queries.
- Less reliance on external SEO tools – as of 17 Jan 2025 – https://searchengineland.com/google-disrupts-seo-tools-450872
- Disavow in GSC is on its way to retirement – https://searchengineland.com/google-disavow-link-tool-will-go-away-at-some-point-440205
- Bing Removed their Disavow Tool – October of 2023 – https://blogs.bing.com/webmaster/september-2023/Bing-Webmaster-Tools-to-Remove-Disavow-Links-Feature-in-October-2023
What type of SEO do I coach?
I focus on SEO best practice and SEO fundamentals across any and all industries.