Domain Rating (DR) is a fabricated metric that props up a $500 million-per-year scam industry.
"I watched someone boost their DR from 0 to 70 in 30 days for $500 and now sell guest posts for $1,000 each," says Noel Seta @noelcetaSEO
The entire link economy runs on phony mathematics.
Here's the DR-pumping scheme I observed firsthand.
Day 1: Fresh domain purchased for $10.
Days 2–5: 50 expired high-DR domains bought for $200.
Days 6–10: All redirected via 301 to the main domain.
Then: 100 forum links from Fiverr for $100, plus 200 Web 2.0 profiles for another $100.
By day 30, DR skyrockets from 0 to 70.
The site now charges $1,000 per guest post, $500 for homepage links, and $2,000 for "editorial" placements.
With 20–30 orders monthly, that's ~$40,000 in revenue—from a metric that means nothing for actual rankings.
Buyers believe they're acquiring "authority."
I tracked 1,000 sites over six months. The evidence that DR is worthless is overwhelming.
- In 38% of SERPs, DR 20 sites outranked DR 80 sites.
- In 44% of queries, DR 50 sites lost to DR 10 sites.
- Brand-new DR 0 sites hit #1 in 23% of niches.
Correlation with positions? 0.31—essentially random.
So why does the industry worship a fake metric?
Agencies need something to sell.
"We'll improve your rankings" is vague. "We'll boost your DR from 30 to 50" is measurable.
Clients don't know it's meaningless. Agencies don't care.
The charade continues.
Link-seller mafias love it.
Site A advertises: "DR 70, links $800."
Site B: "DR 65, links $600."
Site C: "DR 80, links $1,200."
All pumped the same way. All useless for SEO. All raking in $50,000+ monthly.
It's mutual delusion - everyone has skin in the game to keep it alive.
What *actually* matters for rankings? Not DR, DA, or AS.
Relevance to your niche, real organic traffic, editorial standards, natural link profiles, and topical authority.
A niche site with DR 20 will crush Forbes (DR 90) on relevant keys every time.
The inconvenient truth for SEO agencies: Your entire business model rests on a metric Google doesn't use, that can be gamed for $500, that doesn't correlate with positions, and that clients don't understand.
You're selling astrology dressed as science - and everyone knows it.
This scam will never die because:
- Buyers need metrics to justify budgets.
- Sellers need metrics to justify prices.
- Tools need metrics to sell subscriptions.
- Agencies need metrics to show "progress."
Everyone wins from the lie - except those paying for it.
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- Humanoid Robot Neo — the Assistant Currently Piloted by Human Operators. Welcome to the Future
The craziest part? Ahrefs knows.
They could fix it tomorrow: add manual reviews, track redirects, flag suspicious patterns.
They don't - because their tool's value hinges on people caring about DR.
If DR dies, their killer feature vanishes.
That "$50,000 SEO package" promising DR gains? They're buying the same junk links anyone can get for $500.
That "DR 80 guest post opportunity"? A six-month-old site with zero real traffic.
You're not buying authority. You're buying imaginary internet points.
The emperor has no clothes, but the empire is worth $500 million a year.
The show goes on.
