Google’s John Mueller replied on Reddit to a user asking whether Google would penalize a website for old outbound links pointing to a site that once hosted good-quality content but has since changed ownership and now hosts shady content.
Here’s the user’s question on Reddit: “So the question is, how does Google treat OLD backlinks to a REAL business that unfortunately lost their domain? Does Google penalize my lodging website for linking to a domain that recently started serving shady content?”
John Mueller replied: “No. It’s good to keep things fresh overall, but the web is full of turmoil. That said & hopefully obviously, if your whole site’s value has become obsolete, that’s a different kind of problem than a handful of broken links.”
We found this via SER, where Barry Schwartz covered it.
This is a useful clarification for site owners worried about linking out to domains that later change ownership or start hosting low-quality content. According to Mueller, a small number of outdated or broken outbound links isn’t something Google penalizes though he notes that keeping links fresh is still good practice overall, and a site’s broader value or quality is a separate concern from a handful of stale links.
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