So, Google says to ignore toxic link reports and disavowing based on third-party metrics is NOT a good idea.

Wait! Before anyone delves into the existential question of why the disavow link tool even exists in the first place...

Let's add some context!

Google's John Mueller responded to the following question posted on Reddit:

"So, Semrush pops a sudden warning about our site -

61.8% of organic traffic has been lost over the last 6 months.

876 High toxic backlinks

750 Potentially toxic

1.7K links okay.

The drop in organic traffic is true, we don't know why. There was some vulnerability in our wordpress plugins, led to spam links pointing us.

Should we disavow to get back our rankings?"

Google's John Mueller replied:

"You're not going to get your rankings back by following Semrush's report or by disavowing those links...ignore them. Ignore the Semrush report. Let your competitor spend that sweet $5 for nothing."

Does anyone have some thoughts?