Domain Authority (DA) manipulation

Domain Authority (DA) is a commonly used metric by advertising agencies and marketers to assess a website’s potential in Google rankings. However, this score, calculated by platforms like Moz, can be manipulated using various techniques, creating a false sense of credibility. As a result, advertisers may invest in high-DA websites without analyzing real traffic or content quality. This raises serious concerns about the effectiveness of DA as a primary metric for selecting websites for advertising campaigns.

The DA score is primarily determined by a website’s backlink profile. Websites receiving links from strong domains tend to achieve higher scores. However, instead of acquiring these links organically, some websites employ questionable strategies to artificially boost their DA. For instance, some redirect links from expired domains or Google subdomains, such as Google Sites, with the expectation that Moz will count them as valuable backlinks. This can lead to an artificial increase in a site's DA, even if it lacks real content or organic traffic. Others purchase irrelevant backlinks from private blog networks (PBNs) or high-authority sites with no thematic relevance. While Google may ignore these links for organic rankings, Moz still factors them into the DA score.

These practices create a paradoxical situation: websites with real traffic and original content may have a low DA, while sites with artificial backlinks can achieve high scores and attract unjustified advertising. This manipulation of DA impacts both quality publishers and agencies that rely on this metric for investment decisions.

Relying solely on DA to select websites for advertising can lead to wasted budgets on sites with no real audience. Agencies often pay for advertorials on high-DA sites, only to later realize that these websites generate no actual traffic and fail to drive conversions. Without a detailed analysis of organic traffic, advertisers risk investing in "ghost sites" that have no real impact on their campaigns or, even worse, harm their brand reputation.

For example, a site with a DA of 60 may have acquired most of its backlinks from expired domains rather than genuine editorial links, making it unreliable for advertisers.

In response to this issue, advertising agencies are being forced to reconsider DA’s relevance as a metric. Many are now seeking more accurate alternatives, such as analyzing real organic traffic using tools like Google Analytics or Google Search Console, measuring user engagement, or evaluating backlinks based on thematic relevance. Additionally, platforms like Semrush and Ahrefs provide a more balanced view of a website’s performance compared to Moz, which can be influenced by artificial strategies.

Instead of prioritizing DA, advertisers should demand transparency from publishers, verify traffic authenticity, and use a combination of metrics before investing in a website. Until then, websites with artificially inflated DA will continue to attract significant budgets, while platforms with authentic content and real audiences will remain undervalued.

Moz’s response to Domain Authority manipulation

In response to the growing concern about the manipulation of DA scores, Moz has been receiving increasing reports from SEO professionals regarding websites that artificially inflate their DA. Many such websites achieve high scores through redirects from authoritative domains, including Google subdomains. This raises questions about the accuracy of Moz’s algorithm in detecting and filtering manipulated backlinks.

Recently, a discussion with Moz’s support team has highlighted the platform’s awareness of the issue. When presented with examples of websites engaging in this tactic, Moz acknowledged the problem and indicated that they are investigating ways to address it. According to Samantha Chapman, a representative from Moz’s help team, these cases have been forwarded to their internal team for further analysis.

This suggests that Moz may consider adjusting its algorithm in future updates to mitigate DA manipulation. Potential improvements could include:

Ignoring or discounting redirects from authoritative domains such as Google Sites or expired domains that no longer hold real value.

Enhancing spam detection algorithms to better identify artificial backlink networks and prevent their influence on DA scores.

Incorporating real traffic data into DA calculations, ensuring that a high DA score reflects genuine user engagement rather than artificially created link profiles.

As Moz continues to evaluate these concerns, advertisers and SEO professionals must remain cautious when relying on DA as a primary metric. Until improvements are made, alternative methods such as analyzing organic traffic through Google Analytics and Google Search Console, evaluating user engagement, and assessing backlink quality remain crucial for making informed decisions in digital marketing campaigns.

A summarized version of this article, written by me, is available in Romanian on Info Cultural: Manipularea scorului DA (Domain Authority)