Ahrefs Rolls Out “SPAM” Label for Referring Domains & Backlinks

While conducting a routine backlink analysis for a client this morning, I stumbled upon a feature in Ahrefs that—to my knowledge—has flown under the radar for many in the industry. 

It appears Ahrefs has introduced a dedicated “SPAM” label next to referring domains and backlinks in the Site Explorer interface.

For years, the SEO community has relied on Semrush or Moz to identify toxic links even though they used Ahrefs as their primary SEO Tool. 

We’ve had to cross-reference Domain Rating (DR) with organic traffic, look for suspicious TLDs, or export data to other tools that offer a “toxicity score.” 

This new update, however, seems to bring that functionality native to the Ahrefs dashboard, potentially saving SEOs countless hours of manual auditing.

The Discovery

The label appears as a distinct tag next to the domain name in the Backlinks and Referring Domains reports. In the screenshot I captured, the label is clearly visible next to domains that exhibit classic spam signals—low authority, irrelevant niches, or patterns indicative of automated link farms.

While Ahrefs has long provided the metrics necessary to deduce spam (like zero organic traffic or disproportionate outlink counts), they have historically avoided explicitly labeling a domain as “spam” in the UI, preferring to let the data speak for itself. This shift marks a significant change in their philosophy, moving from purely raw data presentation to interpretative analysis.

Why This Matters for SEOs

Link building is the backbone of off-page SEO, but its evil twin—negative SEO and link spam—is a constant headache. Whether it’s a competitor blasting your site with thousands of low-quality blog comments or just the natural accumulation of “cruft” that happens to any popular domain, bad links are a reality we all face.

Previously, cleaning up a backlink profile in Ahrefs involved a multi-step mental flowchart:

1. Sort by DR (low to high).
2. Check Organic Traffic (is it zero?).
3. Check the TLD (is it a known spam extension?).
4. Look at the anchor text.
5. Manually visit the site if unsure.

With this new “SPAM” label, Ahrefs effectively automates the first four steps. By algorithmically flagging these domains, they allow SEOs to filter out the noise instantly.

Making the Life of an SEO Easier

The primary value proposition of this update is speed.

At Stan Ventures, we handle link building and SEO audits for hundreds of clients. A comprehensive backlink audit for a site with 50,000 referring domains can take days if done manually. 

If Ahrefs’ spam detection algorithm is as robust as their crawler, we are looking at a massive reduction in “audit fatigue.”

Here is how this specifically streamlines the workflow:

1. Faster Disavow File Creation: Google’s stance on the Disavow Tool has softened (claiming their algorithms ignore most spam automatically), but many SEOs—myself included—prefer to be safe rather than sorry, especially when manual penalties are a risk. With this label, you can likely filter by “Spam,” export the list, give it a quick human review, and format it for the disavow file in a fraction of the time.
2. Cleaner Reporting for Clients: Clients often panic when they see “toxic” or “spam” links in reports generated by other tools like Semrush or Moz, while Ahrefs reports historically looked “cleaner” because they lacked this label. Now, we can transparently show clients, “Here are the links Ahrefs flagged, and here is our action plan,” keeping the reporting consistent across different toolsets.
3. Better Prospecting: It’s not just about cleaning up your links; it’s about vetting others. When analyzing a competitor’s profile or vetting a domain for a potential guest post, seeing a “SPAM” label is an immediate red flag. It prevents us from pursuing links on sites that might look okay at a glance (decent DR) but have underlying spam issues that Ahrefs’ data has detected.

How is Ahrefs determining “Spam”?

While Ahrefs hasn’t released a detailed whitepaper on the specific mechanics of this label yet, we can make educated guesses based on their existing data capabilities.

It is highly likely that this label relies on a combination of:

• Organic Traffic Trends: A site with high DR but zero organic traffic is a classic sign of an expired domain that has been repurposed for link selling (PBNs).
• Outbound Link Patterns: Sites that link out to thousands of unrelated domains (casino, pharma, crypto) from a single page or without semantic relevance.
• Link Velocity: Sudden, unnatural spikes in referring domains that don’t match standard growth curves.
• Neighborhoods: If a domain links to other known spam domains, it is guilty by association.

Ahrefs has the largest commercial link index in the world. If they are finally leveraging that massive dataset to train a spam-detection model, it could arguably become the most accurate “spam score” in the industry, surpassing Moz’s Spam Score which relies heavily on on-page factors and Semrush’s Toxicity Score which is often criticized for being too sensitive.

The Human Element Remains

Of course, no algorithm is perfect. There will be false positives. A legitimate new website with low traffic might get flagged. A site that was hacked and fixed might still carry the label for a while.

This is why the role of the SEO expert isn’t disappearing. We still need to interpret these labels. But the difference is, we are no longer looking for a needle in a haystack; Ahrefs is handing us the hay and pointing at the needles.

This update from Ahrefs is a loud signal that they are focusing more on actionable insights. For agencies like Stan Ventures and SEO professionals worldwide, this is a welcome addition. It bridges the gap between raw data and strategic decision-making, allowing us to focus less on data entry and more on strategy.

If you haven’t checked your “Referring Domains” report today, I highly suggest you take a look. You might find that your next backlink audit just got a whole lot easier.

Key Takeaways

1. Native Spam Detection: Ahrefs now visually identifies potential spam domains directly in the interface, eliminating the need for complex manual filtering or third-party “toxicity” tools.
2. Efficiency Boost: The label allows for rapid segmentation of backlink profiles, significantly speeding up the process of creating disavow files and performing negative SEO audits.
3. Enhanced Vetting: The feature aids in link prospecting by instantly flagging low-quality sites, ensuring you don’t waste time or budget acquiring links from “poisoned” domains.
4. Data-Driven Accuracy: Unlike other tools that may rely on small sample sets, Ahrefs likely leverages its massive index of live links and traffic data to power this label, potentially offering higher accuracy in spam identification.

Dileep Thekkethil

Author

Dileep Thekkethil is the Director of Marketing at Stan Ventures, where he applies over 15 years of SEO and digital marketing expertise to drive growth and authority. A former journalist with six years of experience, he combines strategic storytelling with technical know-how to help brands navigate the shift toward AI-driven search and generative engines. Dileep is a strong advocate for Google’s EEAT standards, regularly sharing real-world use cases and scenarios to demystify complex marketing trends. He is an avid gardener of tropical fruits, a motor enthusiast, and a dedicated caretaker of his pair of cockatiels.