DomDetailer Moz Spam is Moz’s proprietary spam-risk signal for a URL’s domain, delivered to RankGear through DomDetailer. Higher values indicate more spam-risk signals; the important caveat is that a returned 0 can mean genuinely low risk or simply no provider data, so treat a zero as unknown until confirmed.
| Factor ID | RG-BLK-013 |
|---|---|
| Family | Backlinks & authority |
| Measurement | Provider-supplied risk score |
| Measured zone | Off-page URL/domain data |
What it measures
This factor reports Moz’s proprietary spam-risk signal as supplied through DomDetailer. Rather than measuring authority or link volume, it estimates the likelihood that a domain carries characteristics Moz associates with spam. It is a third-party risk read on the off-page profile of the result URL’s domain, not a metric RankGear computes itself.
How RankGear measures it
RankGear reads the dd_mozSpam value returned by DomDetailer for the exact result URL. When the provider returns no data, the field resolves to 0 — a value that can be confused with a genuine low-risk score. Because of this, a zero should be read as “no signal available” unless you can confirm the provider actually returned data for that domain.
| Value | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Higher | More spam-risk signals detected by Moz — warrants a closer look at the domain’s link profile. |
| Lower (non-zero) | Fewer spam-risk signals present in the provider’s read. |
| 0 | Ambiguous: either genuinely low risk or, more often, no provider data was returned for the URL. |
How to optimize it
Treat the score as an investigative prompt, not a target to game. When it is elevated, look for the real underlying causes: suspicious link patterns, compromised content, manipulative practices, and low-quality networks pointing at the domain. Correct the genuine issues rather than chasing the number itself — a lower score that follows from cleaning up a real problem is meaningful, while a lower score achieved by other means is not.
Important considerations
- Higher values are generally riskier — the direction is inverted compared with authority metrics, where higher is better.
- A value of 0 may simply mean no provider data was returned, not that the domain is low-risk.
- The score is not a Google penalty indicator; it reflects Moz’s model, not Google’s actions.
- Review the actual evidence before removing or disavowing any links.
- This factor tracks a provider’s risk estimate within a measured result set. It relates to how RankGear prioritizes signals; it does not by itself cause or guarantee a change in ranking.
Related factors
Part of the Factors reference · how RankGear measures · glossary.