Private blog network (PBN)
A private blog network (PBN) is a set of websites, often built on expired domains, that one owner controls solely to link to their money sites and manipulate rankings.
The typical setup involves buying aged or expired domains that retain authority, rebuilding thin content on them, and using those sites to pass link equity to a target site. Because the owner controls every link, a PBN offers anchor text and placement control that real outreach cannot match, which is exactly why some practitioners are tempted by it.
This is a clear violation of Google's link spam policies and a textbook link scheme. Networks leave detectable footprints (shared hosting, registrant data, templates, interlinking patterns, and overlapping link targets), and Google has repeatedly deindexed entire PBNs. The downside risk is a manual action or algorithmic suppression that can wipe out rankings.
Treat PBNs as high-risk and not recommended. The links are unstable, the investment can vanish overnight, and recovery is slow. If you encounter a vendor selling PBN links, understand you are buying liability, and prefer genuinely editorial methods that survive algorithm updates.