A referring-domain count from one tool, taken on one day, tells you very little on its own. This post sets out where to look, what Google has said about links and expired domains, why the tools disagree, and a test you can run on any listing before you make an offer. Sources were checked on 2 November 2026.
Where to find and buy domains with backlinks
Domains with backlinks are not all expired. Some are lapsed names whose old site has gone; others are old names an owner still holds, sometimes with a site still running. A running site lets you compare the links with live pages, while a dropped name leaves only the links and the archive. The test below works for both. There are three places to look:
- Expired-domain lists help you find expired domains with backlinks. They aggregate names that have dropped or are about to, so treat them as a shortlist rather than a shop. Our guide on how to find expired domains covers the filters, and the Expired Domain Finder lists aged and expired domains, scored and explained.
- Registrar and drop-catch auctions sell lapsed names before or as they drop. See how domain auctions work.
- Owner listings are names someone holds and prices, or takes offers on. Our comparison of aged domain marketplaces sets out each venue’s terms.
If you want to buy expired domains with great backlinks, decide what “great” means before you look. A useful definition is links that are still live, sit on real sites and relate to what you plan to build. A big count or a high score is a different thing, and a seller’s label is only a claim: see what “high authority” and “high DA” mean on a listing.
What Google says about bought links and old domains
Google’s spam policies page (last updated 28 August 2026) defines link spam as “creating links to or from a site primarily for the purpose of manipulating search rankings,” and lists “Buying or selling links for ranking purposes” among its examples, including “Exchanging money for links.” Paid links for advertising and sponsorship are allowed if marked rel=”nofollow” or rel=”sponsored”. The page does not mention private blog networks by name; our own reading is that a domain bought only to point links at another site fits the link spam definition.
The same page defines expired domain abuse as an expired domain “purchased and repurposed primarily to manipulate search rankings by hosting content that provides little to no value to users.” Google announced that policy on the Search Central blog on 5 March 2024, and the same post said: “It’s fine to use an old domain name for a new, original site that’s designed to serve people first.” Buying the domain is not the problem; what you do with it is.
Google gives no clear public answer on whether an expired domain’s links are “reset”. Asked about that in 2020, as reported by Search Engine Journal on 11 November 2020, John Mueller said “for the most part I think we get this right” and “I don’t think we always get it right,” without a yes or no. In office hours on 19 November 2021, he said that if the content “was gone for a couple of years,” Google probably needs to work out what the site is, “kind of essentially starting over fresh.” He added that it “usually doesn’t make sense to go off and buy expired domains in the hope that you’ll get some kind of a bonus.”
Why backlink tools disagree on “lost” links
Each tool decides for itself what counts as lost, and over what period. Ahrefs lists eight reasons a link is marked lost, from “Not found” and redirects to noindex and “Dropped”, and says of dropped links that “the link itself may still exist on the page.” A seller’s count and yours can differ simply because you used different tools or reports.
| Tool | Window or index | What “lost” means there |
|---|---|---|
| Ahrefs | Live backlinks, plus older ones through a “Show history” option | Eight reasons, incl. page not found, redirect, noindex, crawl error, dropped from the index, link removed |
| Majestic | Fresh Index: past 120 days; Historic Index: since 2006 (PRO plans and above) | “The links that have recently stopped pointing to your site”; Fresh keeps lost and deleted links seen in the window |
| Semrush | Referring Domains report: lost within the past 6 months; Backlink Audit: past 3 months | Domains you have lost backlinks from within that period |
Links also decay everywhere, not just on expired domains. An Ahrefs study by Patrick Stox, updated 2 February 2024, found that “Since January 2013, 66.5% of the links pointing to the 2,062,173 websites we sampled have rotted.” That is a web-wide figure, not a measure of what survives a drop; no source checked for this post has one.
The test, step by step
The full background on reading a link profile is in how to check backlinks. For a domain on sale, run these five steps in order and stop at the first serious failure.
1. Export the links yourself
Do not rely on the seller’s screenshot. Pull referring domains and backlinks from the tool you trust, and note which report or date range you used. Remember Ahrefs counts several links from one site as one referring domain.
2. Run the export through the Backlink Analyzer
Load the file into the Expired Domain Backlink Analyzer. In its own words: “Drop in a backlink export and see what it is made of: anchors, spam, throwaway sites and concentration. Runs in your browser.”
3. Read the anchors and the throwaway sites
Anchors should look like what the old site was: its brand, its URL, its topic. A wall of exact-match commercial anchors, or links concentrated on a handful of thin sites, suggests built links rather than earned ones. Those are the links you are paying for and also the ones most likely to fit Google’s link spam examples.
4. Check the spam history
Run the domain through the Domain Spam History Checker, which scans archived pages for casino, pharma, adult and hacked-site spam and links the evidence. A spam phase often explains a spammy link profile.
5. Check the archive history
The links only make sense if the site that earned them matches what you plan to build. The Domain History Checker gives a year-by-year Wayback Machine timeline of what the domain was used for: past page titles, topic changes, gaps and redirects. Given Mueller’s 2021 remark, a long gap with no content is a reason to expect less from the links, not more. Our guide to expired domains with traffic covers the archive side in more detail.
Disavow is not a routine cleanup
Some buyers plan to buy a messy profile and disavow the bad parts. Google’s Search Console Help calls disavow “an advanced feature” that “should only be used with caution,” and says “most sites will not need to use this tool.” It is meant for a considerable number of spammy links that have caused, or likely will cause, a manual action, after you have tried to remove them.
The mechanics also limit it. The file takes one URL or domain:example.com entry per line, up to 100,000 lines and 2MB; a new upload replaces the old list; it does not support Domain properties; and “it can take a few weeks” to be incorporated. Disavowed links still appear in the Links report. Our view on whether bad links hurt at all is in do toxic backlinks matter.
When to walk away
Walk away when the links you are paying for do not survive the test. In practice that means: most of the profile sits on throwaway sites or exact-match anchors; the archive shows casino, pharma or hacked pages; the topic the links were earned for has nothing to do with your plans; or the seller’s counts cannot be reproduced in any tool. Price can fix a weak profile, but it cannot fix a history you would have to explain.
The limit of all this: no tool sees how Google values a given link, and a score such as Ahrefs’ Domain Rating is that vendor’s own metric. The test reduces risk; it does not certify value.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I buy domains with backlinks?
Registrar and drop-catch auctions sell lapsed names, and marketplaces carry owner listings. Expired-domain lists help you find candidates. Run the same test on a name from any of them.
Is it against Google’s rules to buy a domain with backlinks?
Not as such. Google targets repurposing an expired domain “primarily to manipulate search rankings” with low-value content, and says using an old domain for a new, original site is fine.
Does Google reset backlinks when a domain expires?
Google gives no clear public answer. Mueller gave no yes or no in 2020 and in 2021 described long-dead sites as “essentially starting over fresh.”
Why does the seller’s link count differ from mine?
Tools use different indexes and windows: Majestic Fresh covers 120 days, Semrush counts lost links over three or six months, and Ahrefs has eight lost reasons.
Should I disavow a bought domain’s bad links?
Usually not. Google says most sites do not need disavow and misuse can harm performance.
The takeaway Treat a backlink count as a claim to test, not a feature. If you would rather start from checked history, you can browse aged domains on the SERPHeroes marketplace, where listings show registry age and an ownership check and the archive is scanned for spam. Whatever a listing shows, export the links yourself and run this test on any name you shortlist.
