What the Violence list means
The Violence card appears when at least one outbound link leads to a destination judged to be graphic violence. The list behind Review these links holds those links only. A link can have more than one category, so it may also appear under another card.
A link lands here in one of three ways:
| How it was found | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Domain is on the violence blocklist (23 domains) | Not safe | A listed domain, or a subdomain of one, is a confirmed match. See blocklist sources. |
| AI analysis judged the page unsafe | Not safe | The model read the page and the context it was linked from. |
| Word match | Needs review | The page text contains “gore”, “snuff”, “beheading” or “torture video”. A person should confirm. |
The word match is on whole words and is not case sensitive. That is why a word match is only ever Needs review: a surname, a film review or a news report about a conflict can contain the same words.
When a violence link is legitimate
- A news report on a war, an attack or a trial.
- A history site, museum or archive covering atrocities.
- A film, game or book review that discusses violent scenes.
- A support or campaign organisation working on abuse or violent crime.
The report’s own suggested action says it all: remove the links unless the violent content is the subject of the page. Where the page that carries the link is itself about that subject, no Out of context chip is added.
When it is unwanted
A recipe, a school newsletter or a local business page linking to a gore site did not choose it. The usual causes are injected code after a compromise, an old comment or user-submitted link left in place, or a link to a domain that changed hands. A link to a domain that has since been taken over is covered in expired domain links. Concealed links show the Hidden, Cloaked or Hidden in script chips; see hidden links.
Why it matters
- Visitors. Graphic material behind an ordinary-looking link is distressing, and it was your page that sent them there.
- Reputation. The site appears to endorse it.
- Search and ads. Pages linking to graphic content may be treated as lower quality, and ad networks restrict violent material.
- Filters. Schools, libraries and workplaces may block a site that links to it.
In your report
The card is titled Violence and carries a Medium risk chip. It is shown only when something was found. Its four figures are Flagged links, On a blocklist, Off-topic for their page and Hidden from visitors. Violence is one of only three categories where the blocklist figure can be above zero. The suggested action reads: remove the links to violent content unless it is the subject of the page.
Review these links opens the findings table filtered to this category, with columns Priority, Destination, Signals and Found on. A confirmed list match shows the Not safe chip. Signals shows violence, plus Out of context, concealment chips and Followed where they apply. Choose a row to see the anchor text and reason. See finding priorities for how findings are ranked.
Out of context: “Summer fete” links to violence content
/news/summer-fete · Anchor text “photos”What to do
- Decide whether it belongsLook at the destination with care, in a private window, and consider whether the page is about the subject. A news report is not an injected link.
- Find the link on your pageOpen the page in Found on and search for the anchor text. Check for hidden or script-written copies.
- Remove itIf you did not choose it, remove it, along with any code that added it. If you did choose it, keep it and mark the finding as reviewed.
- Find out how it got thereCheck recent edits, user accounts, plugins and any comments or submissions that publish links. After a WordPress hack has a fuller checklist.
- Check the rest of the listLook through every row under the card and the other category cards.
Common mistakes
- Dismissing a blocklist match because the page looks harmless. The list is about the destination domain, not the anchor text.
- Treating a word match on a news story as a hack, or the reverse.
- Deleting the link on one page while the same code runs elsewhere.
- Relying on nofollow. Visitors still arrive at the destination.
How to confirm it is fixed
Run a re-check from the report once the changes are live. It reads only the pages your flagged links are on, so it is quick, and it shows whether the violent-content links still appears. Marking a finding as reviewed is a note to yourself, not a fix: the next scan reads the page again and calls the finding resolved only when the link is gone or no longer flagged. If it is still there, it comes back as Still flagged. On a monitored site, later scans keep watching for it to return.
Questions
Why does a news story count as a finding?
The word list reads text, not intent. A story about an attack can match, so word matches are only Needs review and a person decides.
Is a blocklist match always right?
It is a confirmed match against the list, but lists are not perfect and can lag behind. Look at the destination yourself before acting. A domain that changed hands may be listed for what it hosted before.
Which categories have blocklists?
Adult, gambling and violence. Drugs, loans and hate are found by reading the page, so they are weaker evidence.
Does Link Signals show me the content?
No. The report shows the reason, the title and the anchor text. Opening the destination is up to you.
How this counts in your LinkSignal
A link to violent content is flagged as risky or unsafe, and that is what links that need review counts in your site’s external LinkSignal. If the same link is hidden, or sits on a page it does not fit, it is counted once in the hidden, cloaked and script-injected links or out of context links row instead. The LinkSignal overview lists every row, and how the score is worked out gives the points. LinkSignal is Link Signals’ own metric, worked out only from what this tool finds, and it is not connected to any search engine or third-party score.
See whether anything on your site links to violent content you did not choose.
