Nofollow, Sponsored and UGC Links: 2026 Guide
Nofollow arrived in 2005 as a tool against comment spam, as Google's September 10, 2019 post on the Search Central Blog recalled. That post, by Danny Sullivan and Gary Illyes, added two new values called sponsored and ugc, and it said all three would now work as hints. From March 1, 2020, it added, Google would also treat nofollow as a hint for crawling and indexing.
Our take: a link attribute is a label for a link's relationship, not a ranking lever, and Google's own docs say a normal link needs no rel value at all. In our view, most sites overuse nofollow and underuse sponsored, and both habits are easy to fix.
This guide helps anyone who sells ad space, earns commissions, hosts comments or a forum, or links out a lot.
What does a link attribute tell Google?
A link attribute tells Google how your site relates to the page you link to: sponsored flags a paid link, ugc flags a link a user posted, and nofollow flags a link you do not vouch for. Google's September 10, 2019 post said all three were "hints about which links to consider or exclude within Search."
The 2019 post said the new values gave site owners more ways "to identify to Google Search the nature of particular links." It explained that Google had not counted nofollowed links as a signal at all. It gave a reason for the change: the words in a link helped describe the page it pointed to.
Do normal links need a rel value, and is there a dofollow value?
No on both counts: Google's page on qualifying outbound links says that for regular links you expect Google to fetch and parse without qualifications, you don't need to add a rel value. There is no dofollow value in Google's list, and in our view dofollow is slang for a plain link with no label.
Google's page on how to qualify your outbound links uses a plain sentence about a favorite horse as its example, with a link and no label. In our view, that should be the default for almost every link you write.
When should a link be marked sponsored?
Mark a link sponsored when someone paid for it, in money or in kind. Google's outbound link page says to use the sponsored value for advertisements and paid placements, and it adds that nofollow "is still an acceptable way to flag them, though sponsored is preferred." Ads, paid reviews, sponsorships and paid roundup spots all belong here.
Google's 2019 post used a wider phrase: links created as part of advertisements, sponsorships or other compensation agreements. In our reading, a free product or a swap of services counts as compensation.
Local sponsorships count too: when a team you back links to your site, the sponsored label belongs on the team's page, in our view. Our guide to earning local links from community groups covers the wider picture.
Are affiliate links sponsored links?
None of the Google link pages we cite name a link attribute for affiliate links. Our reading is that they fit the sponsored value, because you earn a commission when a reader buys, and the 2019 post covered other compensation agreements. In our view, labeling them sponsored is the safe and honest choice.
For example, an outdoor gear review blog in Austin, Texas, might earn commissions on tent links and sell one paid roundup spot. In our reading, both should carry sponsored, while links to a trail map stay plain.
A rel value is for Google, but readers never see it. The Federal Trade Commission's page on its Endorsement Guides says consumers might not understand that "affiliate link" means the person placing it gets paid. The same FTC page says "Paid link" right next to an affiliate link "should be an adequate disclosure of the nature of the link." It also says the closer a disclosure sits to the recommendation, the better. Our affiliate SEO guide covers US disclosure rules and EU consumer protection law in Europe.
When should a link be marked ugc?
Use ugc for any link a user adds to your site, from blog comments to forum posts and Q and A answers. Google's outbound link page recommends the ugc value for user-generated content links, and it adds that you might drop the label for members with a long record of quality posts.
For example, a cycling forum in Berlin, Germany, where members share route links in threads and signatures, should set ugc as the default in its post template. Our take: set the rule for trusted members before anyone asks. Our user-generated content strategy guide covers how to grow that community.
When is nofollow the right choice?
Use nofollow when no other value fits and you would rather Google not tie your site to the page. Google's link best practices page puts it plainly: "Use nofollow only when you don't trust the source, and not for every external link on your site." A plain link to a source you trust is fine.
The example on Google's link best practices page is a story that badmouths your favorite cheese. You want to reply without giving that site some of your reputation, and Google calls that a good time for nofollow. The same page says linking out "isn't something to be scared of." Our take: if you would cite a page in print, link it plainly.
Which link attribute fits each type of link?
Most links need no value, while paid links take sponsored, user links take ugc, and links you distrust take nofollow. Affiliate links fit sponsored in our reading. To keep a page out of crawling or the index, rel values are the wrong tool: use a robots.txt disallow rule for crawling and noindex for indexing.
The third column paraphrases Google's link pages, saved on October 6, 2026. The fourth is our opinion.
| Link | Value to use | What Google says | Our advice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Normal editorial link | None | Regular links need no rel value | Leave it plain and cite freely |
| Paid placement or ad | sponsored | Sponsored preferred, nofollow still acceptable | Use sponsored on every paid link |
| Affiliate link | sponsored | No direct statement | Treat the commission as compensation |
| Blog comment or forum post | ugc | Use ugc or nofollow for comments and forum posts | Make ugc the default in templates |
| Link to a source you distrust | nofollow | Use nofollow only when you don't trust the source | Use it rarely and on purpose |
| Internal link you want left uncrawled | None, use robots.txt | Use the robots.txt disallow rule within your own site | Block the URL, not the link |
| Page to keep out of the index | None, use noindex | Allow crawling and use the noindex rule | Never rely on nofollow for this |
| Paid link inside a user post | ugc sponsored | Two values in one link are valid | Use both only when both are true |
What happens if you pick the wrong value?
Very little, unless the link was paid: Google's September 10, 2019 post said, "There's no wrong attribute except in the case of sponsored links." It said labeling a normal link sponsored would at most mean Google might not count it as credit for the other page. The real problem is a paid link with no label at all.
The post called the opposite case "an issue." Our take: labeling too much wastes little, but a bare paid link is the one link attribute mistake with a real downside. Disavow is a separate decision, covered in our guide to backlink audits and when to disavow.
Does nofollow keep a page out of Google?
No: Google's outbound link page says links with these values will generally not be followed, but the linked pages may still be found through sitemaps or links from other sites. The 2019 post named March 1, 2020, as the date nofollow would turn into a hint for crawling and indexing. To keep a page out of the index, allow crawling and use noindex.
The same post said relying on nofollow alone to block indexing "was never recommended." To stop indexing, use noindex, and to stop crawling, use a robots.txt disallow rule. Read our guide to robots.txt, meta robots and noindex before you combine them. Our XML sitemaps guide shows how a sitemap helps Google discover URLs.
Do internal links ever need nofollow?
No: Google's outbound link page says that to stop Google from fetching a page on your own site, you should use the robots.txt disallow rule instead. Google's link best practices page adds that every page you care about should get a link from at least one other page on your site. In our view, a nofollowed internal link sends a mixed message.
Our take: decide whether the page should be crawled at all. If it should, link it plainly, but if it should not, block the URL and ask why your menus point to it. Our internal linking strategy guide covers how internal links help Google find your pages.
Which links must carry a label under Google's spam policies?
Google's spam policies say link spam is "the practice of creating links to or from a site primarily for the purpose of manipulating search rankings." Labeled paid links do not break these policies. The same page says "It's not a violation of our policies to have such links as long as they are qualified" with nofollow or sponsored.
In our view, six examples from Google's list matter most for labeling.
- Paying money for links, or for posts that contain links
- Trading goods or services for links
- Sending someone a product in exchange for writing about it with a link
- Excessive link exchanges or partner pages made only for cross linking
- Requiring a link in a contract without letting the site owner choose to qualify it
- Footer or template links spread widely across other sites
The 2019 post said sponsored and nofollow would be treated the same for avoiding a link scheme action.
For example, a skincare brand in Seoul, South Korea, that pays Korean bloggers and sends them products to review matches the first and third items in that list. The bloggers' links back to the brand are the ones to label sponsored, and the brand should never demand plain links. If Naver matters to you too, see our Naver guide.
If Google has flagged unnatural links from your site, our manual actions recovery guide covers the fix. If you host sponsored partner sections, read our site reputation abuse guide. For links that need no label, see our guide to earning links through digital PR.
How do you audit the link attributes on your own site?
Our method: crawl your site and export every outbound link with its rel value. Group them by value and check each group against the rules above. Start with paid and affiliate pages, then comment and forum templates, then the footer and widget links you hand to other sites. Fix templates first, because one edit fixes every page that uses them.
Note that the Search Console Links report does not show which links are nofollow, as our Links report guide explains. For a wider check, fold this into a full technical SEO audit. If your templates insert link text with JavaScript, Google's link best practices page suggests the URL Inspection tool to make sure it is present in the rendered HTML. Our guide to log file analysis shows how to list the URLs Googlebot requests, which tells you whether it still fetches pages you only link with nofollow.
Which changes should come first?
Our advice: start with money, and give every paid and affiliate link a sponsored label. Then make ugc the default for comments and forum posts, and remove nofollow from outbound links you trust and from your own internal links. Treat each link attribute as a plain statement of fact, not a tactic.
Keep a simple log of each link attribute change with the date, the template and the old value. Finally, add one line to every ad and sponsorship contract stating that paid links carry the sponsored value.
Frequently asked questions
Does a paid guest post on another site need a sponsored label?
Yes, if money or anything else of value changed hands. Google's spam policies list exchanging money for links, or for posts that contain links, as link spam, and they also name links with optimized anchor text in guest posts distributed on other sites. The fix is simple: the host site labels the links in your post sponsored or nofollow. In our view, a paid post that insists on plain links is not worth buying, because the policy covers links to and from a site alike.
Should footer or widget links you give to other sites carry a label?
Google's spam policies list widely distributed links in the footers or templates of various sites as link spam. The same list names widget links that are hidden, low in quality or stuffed with keywords and spread across many sites. Our take: if you ship a theme, a badge or a widget with a credit link, give that link a sponsored or nofollow label, use your brand name as the link text, and never hide it. Let site owners remove the credit if they wish.
Can a partner contract require a link without a label?
Not safely. Google's spam policies count it as link spam to require a link in terms of service, a contract or a similar deal "without allowing a third-party content owner the choice of qualifying the outbound link." The key word is choice: in our reading, a contract can ask for a link, but the site that hosts it must stay free to add sponsored or nofollow. Our advice: put that freedom in writing, in plain words, before anyone signs the deal.
Do links in press releases need a label?
Watch the anchor text before the release goes out. Google's spam policies name links with optimized anchor text in press releases distributed on other sites as link spam. In our reading, a plain brand name that links to your home page is a very different thing from a keyword packed into a sentence. Our take: when you pay a service to spread a release across many sites, treat its links like any other paid link and ask for sponsored or nofollow.
Is the robots meta nofollow the same as a nofollow link?
No, they work at two different levels. Google's page on outbound links says the rel values apply only to links Google can crawl, except nofollow, which is also available as a robots meta tag. In our reading, the meta version covers the whole page, while the rel version covers just one link. Our take: the page version is a blunt tool that you will rarely need in practice, and our robots guide, linked above, covers the meta values in full.
Do rel values work on links built with JavaScript or on buttons?
Only when the result is a real link that Google can crawl. Google's page on outbound links says the rel values are used only in link elements Google can crawl. Google's link best practices page says Google can generally only crawl a link that is an HTML anchor element with an href attribute, and that links added with JavaScript are crawlable when they use that HTML markup. In our reading, a label on a plain button with no web address behind it does nothing at all. Our guide to how Google renders JavaScript covers crawlable links in more depth.
Must you switch existing nofollow links to sponsored?
No: Google's September 10, 2019 post said there was "absolutely no need" to change nofollow links you already had. It said nofollow used for paid links, or for pages you did not vouch for, would still be supported. For ads, it said you could keep nofollow, but it recommended switching to sponsored "if or when it is convenient." Our take: switch when you next edit a template or a paid page anyway, and skip any risky bulk change made just for the new value.
Should links in a paid directory listing be labeled?
If you pay for the listing and it includes a link, our reading is that the link is a paid link and should carry sponsored or nofollow. Google's spam policies also name links from low quality directory or bookmark sites as link spam. Our take: judge a directory by whether real customers use it, because a good industry directory can still send you visitors when its links carry a label. Skip any directory that sells plain links as its main product.
Can you put two rel values on one link?
Yes: Google's outbound link page says you can list several values, separated by spaces or commas. Google's September 10, 2019 post gave a paid link inside user content as an example, which could carry both ugc and sponsored. It also said adding nofollow to the new values was valid if you wanted to stay backwards compatible with services that did not support them. Our take: use two values only when both are true, such as a paid post that a member writes on your forum.
Does nofollow stop visitors from clicking a link?
No: people can see, hover over and click a nofollow link exactly like any other link, and nothing on the page tells them a label is there. The value speaks to Google, not to people, and Google's September 10, 2019 post described these values as hints that help Google decide which links to count. Our take: a link attribute never replaces a clear note to readers about paid or affiliate links, and the affiliate section above explains what that note should say.