Are Backlinks to Robots.txt Blocked Pages Beneficial for the Entire Domain?

[bijutoha]

Specifically, does the domain root or other pages receive any indirect boost, or does the PageRank effectively evaporate at the blocked URL level?

 

[hipcat]

Interesting question....

I would think when Google follows the link to a blocked page it would either penalize the linking site as going to a "broken" link or dismiss it entirely.

But maybe not....anyone else??

 

[bijutoha]

bijutoha

Your point about the possibility of penalties is an interesting one. As far as I know, Google typically doesn’t penalize for linking to a robots.txt-blocked page since it's not necessarily indicative of bad behavior or a broken link. But it might treat those links with less weight because the content isn’t accessible for verification.

I’d love to hear more thoughts from others, especially if there’s evidence or testing to support one interpretation over the other.