When Google launched its disavow tool over a year ago, few realized the impact that its use might have on their search engine optimization campaigns. But an impact it has most certainly had - and not always a positive one.
In a thread within Google Webmaster Help, Eric Kuan of Google's search quality team indicated that the disavow backlinks tool should be used with caution since it can potentially harm site performance.
How exactly? Well, SEOs might believe that some links are low quality, and disavow them using the tool, but Google may not see it that way. What has already happened is that many SEOs have indiscriminately disavowed links that may have never needed "disavowing" in the first place.
Kuan indicated that "In most cases, Google can assess which links to trust without additional guidance, so most normal or typical sites will not need to use this tool."
It might be a good idea at this point to put away the disavow tool for now, and simply walk away unless you're absolutely sure a link is causing damage to your brand and its reputation.