Why Do Spam Domains Crawl the Entire Internet and Link to New Sites?

If you've spent any time cleaning up backlink profiles, especially for fresh or recently expired domains, you've likely encountered a puzzling—and frustrating—phenomenon: thousands of spammy domains crawling the web, scraping content, and blasting out automated link spam to new sites. In one recent audit, I counted 3,192 spam domains tossing scraper backlinks onto a single new domain's profile. This flood of spam backlinks artificially inflates important SEO metrics in tools like Ahrefs, making it harder to get a true read on domain quality and link trustworthiness.

In this article, I’ll break down what drives spam domains to crawl the entire internet and link relentlessly to new sites, how this impacts your backlink analysis in Ahrefs, and crucially, how to tackle this with smart use of the Ahrefs Site Explorer and Best links feature. We’ll cover why filtering and disavow tactics differ and why it matters for link audits and recovery.

What Are Spam Domains and Why Do They Crawl the Entire Internet?

Spam domains are generally low-quality or outright malicious sites created solely or primarily to generate backlinks. Their main goal? To build "link juice" that can be passed to target sites—sometimes legitimate, sometimes shady—through automated link spam patterns.

Many spam domains operate as scrapers. They use automated bots to crawl as many pages as possible across the entire internet, scraping snippets of content or entire pages. Then these spam domains auto-generate pages stuffed with scraped content and hundreds or thousands of backlinks, often linking to hundreds of new domains simultaneously.

This approach achieves several sketchy goals:

Creating mass backlinks en masse: Because the bots link to new domains as soon as they appear, spam domains quickly pepper new targets with fake backlinks. Gaming SEO tools: By spamming thousands of backlinks from many domains, they attempt to inflate metrics like Domain Rating (DR), Referring Domains, and URL Rating (UR) in tools such as Ahrefs. Adding noise to the link ecosystem: The spam backlinks make real link signals harder to find, diluting the value of genuine backlinks.

How Spam Backlinks Inflate Ahrefs Metrics

Tools like Ahrefs Site Explorer calculate many crucial metrics based on backlink data. The presence of tens of thousands of spammy links can drastically distort these numbers:

Domain Rating (DR) and URL Rating (UR): These metrics assume more high-quality backlinks equal stronger authority. Spam backlinks pump up raw backlink counts and referring domain counts, misleading the metrics. Referring Domains: Because spam domains often create many new domains or subdomains just to create backlinks, the referring domain count skyrockets. Traffic estimates: Scraper backlinks don’t generate real traffic but can artificially boost the apparent link popularity.

For example, I recently audited a new domain with 3,192 spam domains linking to it – the sheer volume made the domain appear more authoritative than it was, triggering false positives when assessing potential affiliate or PBN links if you blindly rely on raw Ahrefs numbers.

Using Ahrefs "Best Links" Feature with a Custom Exclusion List

The "Best links" report inside Ahrefs Site Explorer is a powerful yet often underutilized tool for cutting through spam noise. By default, it surfaces the highest-quality backlinks based on a blend of Ahrefs metrics and link relevance. However, when your backlink profile includes thousands of spam backlinks, even "Best links" can be skewed.

Here’s where a custom exclusion list comes in. By maintaining a personal blocklist of repeat-offender spam domains and domain clusters known for automated link spam (scraper backlinks), you can exclude these domains from your “Best links” view, leaving you with a cleaner, more accurate picture of your genuine link profile.

Compile your blocklist during audits. Common offenders include expired PBNs, link farms, and scraper networks. In Ahrefs Site Explorer, navigate to the "Best links" report for your domain. Use the filtering options to exclude domains from your blocklist (e.g., exclude root domains containing "spamdomainxyz.com"). Save this as a default view to always start from a clean slate.

This approach prevents automated link spam from inflating your high-quality backlink count while still preserving your ability to see legitimate links that could be easily hidden by heavy-handed filtering.

Saving a Default View in Site Explorer to Streamline Link Audits

As an SEO analyst cleaning backlink profiles day in and day out, saving time is critical. Ahrefs Site Explorer lets you save filtered views, which means you can set up a consistent workspace tailored for spam backlink removal and audit.

Here’s why saving a custom filtered view helps:

Consistency: You always start with your personal exclusion list applied, so the domain spam clutter never clouds your analysis. Efficiency: Cutting out fake spam domains reduces noise, letting you focus faster on genuine linking opportunities. Tracking progress: You can easily compare backlink quality pre- and post-cleanup, showing clients the value of your audits.

To save a default view:

Apply your custom domain exclusions and other filters in the "Backlinks" or "Best links" reports. Click the "Save view" button on the top right of the Site Explorer interface. Name your view (e.g., "Cleaned backlinks for audits"). Open the saved view on future audits to avoid duplicate filtering work.

Filtering Your Backlink Profile vs. Disavowing: Why It Matters

One common mistake I see is conflating filtering within SEO tools like Ahrefs with Google’s disavow tool, and misunderstanding the role of each.

Aspect Filtering (in Ahrefs and others) Disavowing (with Google) Purpose To temporarily hide or exclude spammy links when analyzing or reporting. To officially tell Google which backlinks to ignore when ranking your site. Data impact Does not delete or remove links; only affects what you see. May prevent Google from passing link equity from disavowed links. Visibility Only impacts your Ahrefs or internal tool views. Impacts how Google treats your backlink profile. Requires action? No; filtering is instant, reversible, no external action needed. Yes; submit disavow file via Google Search Console and wait.

The key takeaway here is filtering is your clean working environment. It lets you visually separate noise from value. Disavow should be reserved for genuinely harmful or suspicious https://fourdots.com/blog/how-to-filter-spam-links-in-ahrefs-site-explorer-using-best-links-feature-11059 domains after thorough link audit analysis.

Conclusion

Automated link spam from spam domains crawling the entire internet and spamming new sites with scraper backlinks is a major headache for SEO professionals. The sheer volume of spam backlinks can easily inflate Ahrefs metrics like Domain Rating and Referring Domains, making new domains appear deceptively strong.

Using Ahrefs Site Explorer’s "Best links" feature together with a personal exclusion list of known spam domains lets you cut through the noise and focus on true link quality. Saving custom filtered views streamlines audits and client reporting. And importantly, understanding the difference between filtering spam links in your analysis and actually disavowing harmful links with Google is critical to making the right decisions.

If you’re struggling with profiles riddled by thousands of spam linking domains (like the example 3,192 spam domains I recently tackled), adopt a disciplined approach to automated link spam, scrapers, and new domain spam links today. It will save you hours and avoid costly mistakes down the line.

Counting clicks and time saved: If you read straight to the solutions instead of scrolling through 500 words of vague advice, congratulations—you’ve saved roughly 4 minutes and 8 clicks in your audit workflow already.