Short answer: it depends entirely on what you're actually buying, and most people asking this question don't know which category their purchase falls into. "Buying backlinks" covers everything from a completely legitimate paid guest post on a real, independently owned site to a private blog network link built specifically to evade Google's detection systems. Those are not the same risk category, even though both get sold under the same phrase.
Why we're qualified to answer this honestly
We used to sell PBN links ourselves. We took the service down entirely in 2026, not because it stopped working technically, but because we couldn't reconcile selling it next to a promise of white-hat, Google-safe work. That decision cost us a revenue line. We're explaining the actual risk breakdown below because we've sat on both sides of this specific product.
The three categories of "buying backlinks"
1. Paying for a placement on a real, independently owned site. This is what most professional link building services actually sell, whether it's framed as a guest post fee, a niche edit, or an outreach placement. The site owner is being compensated for their time and editorial judgment, not selling raw link equity. Google's guidelines target undisclosed paid links that manipulate rankings, not the existence of payment itself, which is why sponsored content with proper rel="sponsored" markup is explicitly allowed.
2. Private blog networks (PBNs). A PBN is a group of sites, often built on expired domains with existing authority, secretly owned and controlled by one entity to build links to client sites. This is the category Google's algorithms and manual action teams actively hunt for, because the "different domains" are not actually independent. When a PBN gets caught, the penalty can extend beyond the specific links to the client site's entire domain.
3. Link farms and automated link networks. Bulk, low-quality links sold with no editorial process at all, often via marketplaces with no real traffic behind the sites. These rarely help and can actively signal manipulation to Google's spam systems.
How to tell which one you're actually buying
- Ask who owns the site. A legitimate seller will tell you, or at minimum confirm it's independently operated.
- Check for real organic traffic, not just a Domain Rating number. Ahrefs' free backlink checker shows estimated traffic alongside DR.
- Look at the site itself. Does it publish regularly, have real design, real other content unrelated to your link? Or does it exist purely to host paid links?
- Be skeptical of guaranteed placement on a specific named high-authority outlet at a price that seems too low for that outlet's real rate.
Our actual policy
Every link we sell today, from standard backlink packages to journalist-sourced links, comes from category one: real, independently owned sites, with a live URL you can verify yourself on delivery. If you're evaluating an offer from anyone, including us, the three questions above are the fastest way to find out which category you're actually being sold.
Questions readers ask us
Google's guidelines target link schemes that manipulate rankings, not payment itself. A paid guest post on a real site with proper disclosure carries far less risk than a PBN or link farm.
Check for real, unrelated content beyond the paid link, an actual design and brand identity, and organic traffic that isn't suspiciously flat or spiky. Ownership transparency is the biggest tell.
No, it's not illegal. It can violate Google's Webmaster Guidelines, which risks a ranking penalty, not a legal consequence.
Audit your backlink profile, identify the suspicious links, and disavow them through Google Search Console if you can't get them removed directly.
