Google is Smart
The likelihood of being penalised by Google for toxic backlinks is small, especially in recent years as it appears that Google is getting better at simply ignoring backlinks from from websites with no relevance. If you are concerned, Google Search Console does allow you to disavow backlinks – this is basically your way of saying that the link is not sanctioned by you and you want nothing to do with it!
Find Out More
In our experience, people’s understanding of toxic backlinks is varied – from being oblivious to them to being suddenly terrified that they exist and could harm their website ranking with Google. Our article Backlinks, Domain Authority and Toxicity provides a good starter guide to the subject of backlinks, how they affect Domain Authority and what to do about toxic backlinks.