Paid links, rel="sponsored" and nofollow: what to do and what to avoid
Sponsored content is a normal part of publishing: a company pays a site to run an article, a mention or a placement. The trouble starts when that payment is hidden, or when the link is meant to pass ranking credit. This guide covers the labeling conventions search engines document and how to stay on the right side of them.
Two separate obligations
Disclosure to readers and qualification for search engines are different things, and a compliant placement does both.
- Reader-facing disclosure: a clear, visible label near the content, such as "Sponsored" or "Paid placement", so people know money changed hands. Advertising rules in many countries require this.
- Machine-facing qualification: marking the link itself, in its rel attribute, so search engines can tell it is an advertisement and not an editorial vote.
The rel values
Search engines document a small set of values for the rel attribute on outbound links. For paid relationships, the one that describes it most precisely is rel="sponsored". The older rel="nofollow" is a general hint that the site does not vouch for the target, and Google has said it also accepts it for paid links. A related value, rel="ugc", is meant for user-generated content such as comments and forum posts, not for ads. Values can be combined, for example rel="sponsored nofollow".
Why "buy a dofollow link" is the wrong goal
Google's spam policies describe buying or selling links that pass ranking credit as link spam. A link that is paid for and presented to search engines as an ordinary editorial link is exactly what that policy targets. The consequence can be that links are ignored or that a site's pages are demoted in results. That is why any honest marketplace for paid placements cannot promise ranking benefit, link equity or "dofollow" status, and why LynkBack does not.
What sponsored placements are actually good for
- Reaching an audience that already reads a relevant publication.
- Introducing a product to people searching for or reading about its topic.
- Sending referral visits from a page where the topic fits.
- Brand visibility alongside trusted editorial context, clearly labeled.
None of these depend on passing ranking credit, and none of them are guaranteed. They are reasons to measure a placement by readers and visits instead of by a link metric.
A practical checklist
- Is there a visible label that a reader would notice?
- Does every compensated link carry rel="sponsored" (or nofollow)?
- Is the page relevant to the advertiser, rather than an unrelated page that happens to rank?
- Does the agreement avoid any promise about rankings or link equity?
- Is the placement monitored so the label and attribute stay in place for the whole paid term?
These are the properties LynkBack is designed to enforce for every placement: a visible label, a qualified link, a verified live page, and ongoing checks, with no promise about search results.