Where to buy backlinks: link selling and link buying platforms

Which paid links keep their value after Google’s next update

You are paying for links, or being told you should, and you want to know which of them will still count after Google’s next update. Google now mostly neutralises weak links, so the links worth paying for are the ones that move a ranking.

We have worked around the link market for over two decades, and the list below comes from practice. These are the platforms we have used or watched clients use, with the trade-offs we have observed: some are excellent, some are useful for specific niches, and a few are best left alone by anyone serious about long-term rankings.

Important context: Buying links that pass ranking credit breaks Google’s spam policies (part of Google Search Essentials, formerly the Webmaster Guidelines). Google’s SpamBrain system can detect and neutralise (or penalise) unnatural link patterns. What follows documents the link economy as it exists in 2026, so use professional judgement.

The most resilient SEO is built on earned editorial links, digital PR, and content that other sites genuinely want to reference.

Why site owners still sell placements

Knowing why publishers sell tells you which placements are worth buying, because a site that exists to sell links is the one Google discounts first. Quality content is expensive to produce: editorial teams have payroll and independent bloggers have hosting bills. Selling sponsored placements, niche edits, or branded content is one of the few ways content sites monetise beyond ad networks.

The platforms below exist because there is genuine commercial demand on both sides. Buyers want backlinks for SEO, brand visibility, or referral traffic, publishers want revenue from their content investment, and the platforms are the matchmakers.

In 2026, Google still uses links as a ranking signal, and they stay part of the future of SEO. The question is whether the links you acquire come from sites Google’s algorithms judge as authoritative, topically relevant, and editorially independent.

Why buyers prefer marketplaces to manual outreach

Cold outreach is slow: replies are few, and each reply is still several steps from a placement.

Only 8.5% of outreach emails receive a response.

Source: Backlinko and Pitchbox, analysis of 12 million outreach emails, 2019

Multiply that across the volume any agency or in-house SEO team needs, and marketplaces become the practical route.

Marketplaces compress the discovery, negotiation, and placement steps into a few clicks. Pricing is upfront, the publisher has already agreed to placements in principle, and the marketplace handles invoicing, escrow, and dispute resolution. The gain is speed of operations; the SEO value still depends on the site.

What SpamBrain changed for cheap links

If you bought links before 2022, it is worth checking which of them still count. Until then, Google’s link spam detection was patchy: PBNs, cheap directory links and mass guest post networks all worked. Google’s December 2022 link spam update changed that.

Google announced that it was using SpamBrain to neutralise the impact of unnatural links on search results, and warned that rankings may change as spammy links are neutralised and any credit they passed is lost. The update applied to all languages.

Source: Google Search Central Blog, "December 2022 link spam update", 14 December 2022

SpamBrain is Google’s AI-based spam-prevention system, and it identifies unnatural link patterns at scale. Cheap links increasingly get nullified rather than penalised: the algorithm simply ignores them. For a buyer, that makes quality checks the priority, because a neutralised placement carries zero ranking impact.

Google’s later spam updates have continued in the same direction. Sites keep ranking, and the value of low-quality links is discounted to zero, as set out in Google Search Essentials, spam policies.

Check a platform before you buy backlinks

An hour of checks before you pay protects a year of placement budget. The same checks apply across every marketplace, and the platform name matters less than the inventory behind it.

• Look at the actual sites listed. Real domains with real organic traffic verified through Ahrefs or Semrush. Choose sites whose traffic holds steady over time.
• Check editorial standards. Does the site post content other than sponsored placements? If most recent posts are paid, Google’s algorithms have probably already discounted that domain.
• Verify the topical relevance. Choose sites focused on your topic, since topical authority is what makes a link count; a general “lifestyle” or “tech tips” site that publishes in any niche on demand carries less weight.
• Check for a network footprint. Networks of sites with shared hosting IPs, similar template designs, and overlapping content patterns get caught together.
• Test the platform’s transparency. Reputable marketplaces share Domain Rating, organic traffic, referring domains, and recent placement examples. Spend with the ones that show it.

The working list of 27 platforms

27 platforms, alphabetically. Click through to inspect each one. The descriptions reflect what the platforms claim to offer, not endorsements, and every inventory size or price below is the platform’s own figure as stated on its website when we checked on 26 September 2026. These numbers move quickly.

Every figure in the last column is the vendor’s own claim, taken from the linked website on 26 September 2026; none is independently audited.

Build a link strategy around your markets

We help clients build link portfolios that hold up through algorithm updates, as part of multilingual SEO across markets. The platforms above are tools, and whether they work for you depends on what you actually need: niche relevance, language coverage, anchor text distribution, or genuine editorial reach. Over two decades of SEO experience, put to work on your specific situation.

Book a call about your link plan

Spend on editorial placements first

The link economy continues to operate and marketplaces are bigger than ever, but the cost-benefit equation has shifted. Editorial placements still work, and they are where the budget earns its keep. Spend on the middle ground only after the checks above.

For more on building authority that holds up, see our work on link building services, competitor backlink analysis, and local link building in Spain.