Link insertion is the practice of getting a link added to a page that already exists, rather than to a new article. In the link selling market it is often called a niche edit or curated link, and site owners charge a fee to add a followed link to an older post. Done for payment without rel="sponsored" or nofollow, it is a paid link under Google's spam policies.
Why it is popular with link sellers
An existing page already has an index history, possibly its own backlinks and some traffic. Adding a link there looks, to the buyer, like getting an aged link on an established page without waiting for a new article to gain anything. That makes niche edits a common product on link marketplaces and in cold outreach pitches.
Legitimate versions
Not every added link is a purchase. Editors update articles all the time, and suggesting a better or more current resource can be genuinely helpful. Broken link building and link reclamation both involve asking for a link in existing content. The difference is whether compensation is involved and whether the editor makes the decision on the merits.
- Pointing out a dead link and offering a working replacement
- Telling an author their statistic now has a newer primary source
- Asking a site that mentions your product by name to link the mention
Risks to watch
Paid insertions carry the same policy risk as any paid link. They also tend to sit on sites that sell to everyone, so the same old post can end up stuffed with links to unrelated businesses, which lowers its value to readers and is easy to spot.
Example
A helpful update versus a paid edit
An illustrative API documentation tool, Specbarrow, notices that a popular tutorial links to an archived version of a spec. It emails the author with the current link and mentions its own guide on the topic. The author updates the spec link and, on their own judgment, adds Specbarrow's guide. The same week, a vendor offers Specbarrow paid niche edits on "aged tech posts". The first is outreach; the second is a link purchase.
Common mistakes
Buying "aged" placements
The age of the host page does not change the fact that the link was paid for.
Inserting links into your own old posts to settle trades
That turns your content into a host for exchanged links.
Questions
Yes. Asking is fine. Paying or trading for the link without qualifying it is what breaks Google's policies.
