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What Are Sponsored Links and Are They Good for SEO?

What Are Sponsored Links

Seen those ‘Sponsored’ tags on links within articles, blogs, or on websites? These indicate paid links, often used for advertising purposes. 

Sponsored links allow businesses to disclose paid promotions, ensuring transparency for users and compliance with search engine guidelines.

But what exactly are these sponsored links, how do they work, and what role do they play in SEO? 

Let’s break it down.

What Are Sponsored Links?

Sponsored links are paid hyperlinks that a business acquires by paying another website to include their link. These links are used to promote products, services, or content and are labeled as “sponsored” to indicate a paid arrangement.

Sponsored links can be acquired in different ways:

  • Link Insertion: The buyer pays to have their link added to existing content on the seller’s website.
  • Guest Posts: The buyer provides content, often called an advertorial, which is published on the seller’s site with an agreed backlink to the buyer’s site.

rel="sponsored"

This image shows how a rel=”sponsored” attribute is used in the HTML code of a webpage to identify a link as paid or promotional.

Do Sponsored Links Help with Link Building?

Google introduced the rel=”sponsored” attribute on September 10, 2019, to improve transparency around paid links. This attribute specifically identifies links created as part of advertisements, sponsorships, or similar agreements. Before this, such links were typically marked with the rel=”nofollow” attribute, which is still valid but less specific for paid links.

This update aligns with Google’s policies to combat link schemes and maintain fair search rankings. Properly tagging sponsored links helps Google distinguish paid links from organic ones, reducing the risk of penalties for manipulative practices.

While sponsored links may now be crawled as “hints” by Google, they are not direct ranking factors and do not pass “link equity” or PageRank. However, placing sponsored links on high-authority websites can still provide value by driving referral traffic, improving brand visibility, and contributing indirectly to your SEO efforts.

If you’re leveraging sponsored links for link building, using the rel=”sponsored” attribute ensures compliance with Google’s guidelines and promotes an ethical and transparent SEO strategy. For more details, refer to Google’s official guidelines.

🔖 Link Attributes for Sponsored Links

  • 🏷️ Rel=”sponsored” Attribute: Used to mark links as paid or part of sponsorships.
  • 🚫 Rel=”nofollow” Attribute: Prevents the link from passing SEO value or PageRank.
  • 💬 Rel=”ugc” Attribute: Indicates links in user-generated content like comments or forums.
  • 🔗 Combining Attributes: Multiple attributes can be combined for better clarity (e.g., rel="sponsored nofollow").

 

How to Find Sponsored Links on a Website

Here are some effective ways to find them:

1. Manual Inspection of HTML Code

Right-click on a webpage and select View Page Source or Inspect Element”, depending on your browser. In the source code, look for <a> tags with the rel=”sponsored” attribute. 

Inspect

These attributes explicitly mark the links as paid, ensuring compliance with Google’s guidelines for rel sponsored links.

2. Using SEO Tools

SEO tools can quickly find and analyze sponsored links without manual effort. Here’s how to check:

Ahrefs: Use the Backlinks report to identify all incoming links tagged as rel=”sponsored” on a website. Apply filters to focus on sponsored links, making it easy to analyze paid link strategies and understand how a site leverages sponsored advertising.

Ahrefs Sponsored links check

SEMrush: Access the backlink analysis tool to identify links labeled with the rel=”sponsored” or rel=”nofollow” attributes.

SemRush Sponsored links check

Screaming Frog SEO Spider: Crawl the domain and identify all external links with the rel=”sponsored” attribute.

Screaming Frog SEO Spide

Sitebulb: Analyze a website’s outbound link attributes and locate paid links efficiently.

Sitebulb

These tools are especially helpful for detecting sponsored listings or affiliate links across large-scale websites.

3. Browser Extensions

Browser extensions help simplify link inspection. Popular ones include:

1) NoFollow

To identify sponsored links, use the NoFollow browser extension. Once installed, activate it on a webpage, and it will highlight all links with rel=”nofollow”, rel=”ugc”, or rel=”sponsored” attributes. 

NoFollow Extenstion

Sponsored links will appear with a red box around them, making them easy to spot and analyze for compliance.

2) Check My Links

Another reliable extension for identifying sponsored links is Check My Links. Once installed, this tool scans all the links on a webpage and highlights them based on their attributes.

Check My Links Extension

When you activate the extension, it opens a separate box that categorizes links into valid, redirected, and invalid. Links with attributes like rel=”sponsored” are highlighted, allowing you to easily spot paid links on the page. This makes it a quick and efficient way to verify link attributes and ensure compliance with SEO guidelines.

When Should You Use Which Attribute?

Understanding when to use the appropriate rel attribute—such as rel=”sponsored”, rel=”nofollow”, or rel=”ugc”—is crucial for complying with search engine guidelines and maintaining a transparent link-building strategy. Here’s how to decide which attribute to use:

1. rel=”sponsored”

Use this attribute for paid links.

This tag is specifically designed for links that are part of advertisements, sponsorships, or other paid agreements. It tells search engines that the link is not earned organically and is part of a business arrangement.

When to Use:

For sponsored links in guest posts or advertorials.

In sponsored ads meaning links like banner ads or contextual placements.

For paid partnerships or affiliate links labeled as sponsored tag content.

Using this tag ensures compliance with Google’s guidelines for google sponsored links and helps avoid penalties for manipulative link-building practices.

2. rel=”nofollow”

Use this attribute for links you don’t want to pass SEO value.

Originally introduced to combat spammy backlinks, rel=”nofollow” is now used to signal links that should not influence search rankings.

When to Use:

For untrusted or promotional content.

When linking to external pages without endorsing their content.

For links in sponsored searches where the intent isn’t to build SEO authority.

This attribute remains valid for paid links but is less specific than rel=”sponsored” for modern SEO practices.

3. rel=”ugc”

Use this attribute for user-generated content (UGC).

Introduced by Google alongside rel=”sponsored”, this attribute marks links added by users in forums, comments, or reviews.

When to Use:

For links in comments, guest reviews, or user profiles.

On community-driven pages with embedded links.

Adding rel=”ugc” to these links protects your site from being associated with spam or low-quality links that users might include.

Don’t Forget About Do-Follow Links

For links you want to pass SEO value (link equity) and help with rankings, leave the rel attribute blank. These are considered do-follow links and should only be used for trustworthy and relevant sources.

 

Why Choosing the Right Attribute Matters

Using the correct attribute not only ensures compliance with Google’s policies but also avoids penalties that could impact your site’s rankings. By tagging links appropriately—whether as sponsored, nofollow, or ugc—you contribute to ethical link-building and improve your site’s overall SEO strategy.

Adhering to these practices supports long-term growth by maintaining a clean and effective linking profile.

Conclusion: Sponsored Links

Sponsored links are a great way to promote your website and stay compliant with Google’s guidelines by using the rel=”sponsored” tag. They support your overall online strategy when used correctly. 

If you’re looking to create high-quality backlinks, contact Outreach Monks today to get started!

FAQs on Sponsored Links

Can Sponsored Links Pass SEO Value?

Sponsored links are typically marked with the rel=sponsored attribute, which prevents them from passing SEO value or link equity. However, they can still provide indirect benefits like increased traffic and visibility.

Are Sponsored Links the Same as Paid Ads?

Sponsored links are a type of paid promotion but differ from display ads or PPC campaigns. They are embedded links within content, banners, or listings, specifically labeled as “sponsored.”

Can Sponsored Links Be Used for Affiliate Marketing?

Yes, affiliate links are a form of sponsored links. They should be tagged with rel=sponsored to comply with Google’s guidelines, indicating they are part of a paid agreement.

How Are Sponsored Links Different from Organic Links?

Organic Links are earned organically through high-quality content, while sponsored links are paid placements. Organic Links pass link equity, but sponsored links do not.

Are There Any Risks Associated with Sponsored Links?

Risks include penalties from Google if the links are not properly tagged with rel=sponsored. Additionally, irrelevant or low-quality placements can harm your brand reputation.

Sahil Ahuja

Sahil Ahuja

Sahil Ahuja, the founder of Outreach Monks and a digital marketing expert, has over a decade of experience in SEO and quality link-building. He also successfully runs an e-commerce brand by name Nolabels and continually explores new ways to promote online growth. You can connect with him on his LinkedIn profile.

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