What is Spam Score and How Do You Use It?
Spam score is a Moz metric that estimates how likely a domain is to be penalised by Google. What it measures, the thresholds, and what to do about it.
16 May 2026 · 6 min read
Spam score is a metric developed by Moz that estimates how likely a domain is to be penalised by Google. It is expressed as a percentage from 0 to 100. A score of 1% means the domain shares very few characteristics with sites that have been penalised. A score of 90% means it shares many.
The metric is calculated by comparing a domain's characteristics against patterns Moz identified from sites that Google has either manually penalised or algorithmically suppressed.
How does Moz calculate spam score?
Moz's spam score model was built by analysing thousands of penalised domains and identifying which characteristics they shared. The model looks at signals including:
- Link profile composition: a high proportion of exact-match anchor text, links from a single domain type, or a sudden spike in backlinks
- Domain age and registration: very new domains or domains with privacy-protected WHOIS data
- Site structure: thin content, excessive ads, no contact information, no privacy policy
- TLD distribution: certain top-level domains are disproportionately associated with spam
- Ratio of followed to nofollowed links: unnaturally high ratios of followed links from low-quality sources
No single factor produces a high spam score. The model scores based on how many flags are present together.
What spam score thresholds should you care about?
Moz describes spam score in three bands:
| Score range | Risk level |
|---|---|
| 1–30% | Low |
| 31–60% | Medium |
| 61–100% | High |
A score in the low range is normal and not cause for concern. Most legitimate sites sit here. Medium scores warrant closer inspection: the domain may be fine, or it may have a pattern worth investigating. High scores (above 60%) are a red flag and should be investigated before pursuing a link from that domain.
Is a high spam score always a problem?
Not automatically. Spam score is a predictive model, not a direct penalty signal from Google. A domain with a high spam score is not necessarily harmful; it shares characteristics with penalised sites, but that does not mean Google has taken action against it.
The practical rule: treat spam score as a filtering tool, not a verdict. When evaluating potential link partners, filter out anything above 60% for closer review. If the site looks legitimate on inspection (real content, real business, no obvious link schemes), the score may be a false positive.
Where spam score matters most is during a backlink audit: if sites with high spam scores are linking to you in significant numbers, that is worth flagging and potentially disavowing.
How to check spam score
Use Crawly's free spam score checker to check any domain instantly. Enter the domain URL and you will see the spam score alongside the domain authority, referring domains, and backlink count.
For checking multiple domains at once, the bulk DA checker returns spam score alongside authority metrics for up to 100 domains in a single batch. This is useful when screening a list of link prospects.
Spam score vs domain authority
Spam score and domain authority are separate metrics that measure different things. Domain authority predicts ranking ability based on link profile strength. Spam score predicts penalty risk based on negative signals.
A site can have a high DA and a low spam score (legitimate, well-linked site), or a low DA and a high spam score (new or low-quality site), or any combination. Evaluate both together when assessing a potential link.
When to disavow links from high-spam-score domains
Disavowing should not be done lightly. If a few high-spam-score domains are linking to you, Google is generally capable of ignoring them on its own.
Disavowal makes sense when:
- You have a significant volume of links from high-spam-score domains (hundreds or more)
- Your site has previously been the subject of a negative SEO attack (someone building spammy links to your domain deliberately)
- You have received a manual action in Google Search Console for unnatural links
For everything else, monitor the links but do not act unless you see a pattern worsening or rankings declining alongside a rising proportion of toxic links. See how to build a disavow file for the step-by-step process.
Spam score and link prospecting
When building links, spam score is a useful pre-filter. Before reaching out to a site for a link, check:
- Domain authority (is the site worth pursuing?)
- Spam score (does the site carry penalty risk?)
- Relevance (does the site cover topics related to yours?)
- Real traffic (does the site appear in Ahrefs/Semrush with organic visits?)
A site with a DA of 35 and a spam score of 5% is almost always a better link prospect than one with a DA of 45 and a spam score of 70%, regardless of the raw authority number.
Spam score is one of the fastest ways to filter a list of link prospects. Check any domain for free with Crawly's spam score checker.