GWT - Links to website - Are they accurate

[Cocoonfxmedia]

Hi

I am looking at GWT more and more and I starting not to believe the information within it.  For example we had a link on XYZ.com say 6 months ago.  This link as been removed no reference to our website, however it still showing on GWT inbound links.  I have noticed quite a few sites which have no relevance to our site.

Is anyone else finding the information wrong in WMT

[MattAntonino]

The link info in WMT is not so much "wrong" as "based on a very heavy delayed reporting."

When you get new links it can take ages for them to appear. And when links are removed it can take ages for them to disappear.

I've found that simply dropping new links into a ping tool like 247pinger takes care of the first problem and speeds it up getting INTO WMT.  I assume if you really wanted something out you could do the same thing with a removed link and it should get rid of it quicker.

But yeah, overall a known issue. I don't think many of us rely on WMT for link data. Ahrefs, Majestic, OSE & Spyglass are all much better data sources.

[dynamyt100]

Matt is 100% correct, there are definite delays on Google's side.