The sponsored link attribute is the value rel="sponsored" added to an HTML link to say the placement was paid for or given in exchange for something of value. Google introduced it in 2019 alongside rel="ugc" as a more specific option than nofollow. Google treats it as a hint, and it is the value Google prefers for advertising, sponsorships and affiliate links.
What it is for
Search engines use links as one signal of which pages people find worth referencing. A paid placement says nothing about merit, so Google asks publishers to label it. The sponsored value does that labeling in a way that also tells Google why the link is qualified, which nofollow alone does not.
It applies to any link where money, free products, discounts, services or other compensation changed hands in return for the link or the coverage that contains it.
<a href="https://vendor.example.com/" rel="sponsored">Try Vendor</a>
<a href="https://vendor.example.com/?ref=42" rel="sponsored nofollow">affiliate link</a>Where it typically belongs
On a SaaS company's own site, sponsored links are less common than people expect, but they do appear. Typical cases are listed below.
- Affiliate links in comparison or review content
- Links in paid newsletter or blog sponsorships
- Paid directory or marketplace listings that link out
- Links inside sponsored articles you publish for a partner
- Event sponsor logos that link to the sponsor
How Google handles it
Since 2019, Google treats sponsored, ugc and nofollow as hints rather than strict directives. Google has said it may use hinted links for discovery, and it does not publish the exact rules for when it does. What is documented is the requirement: paid links that are not qualified with sponsored or nofollow can be treated as link spam under Google's spam policies.
You can combine values. rel="sponsored nofollow" is valid and is sometimes used for compatibility with search engines or tools that only read nofollow.
Example
A sponsored newsletter placement
An illustrative analytics startup, Tallowmark, pays for a slot in a well-read data engineering newsletter that also publishes each issue on its website. The newsletter's web template adds rel="sponsored" to the sponsor block. Tallowmark still gets clicks from readers, and neither side risks the placement being read as a paid link scheme.
Common mistakes
Asking publishers to drop the attribute
Requesting a followed link in exchange for payment is exactly what Google's link spam policies describe. If the deal involves compensation, the link should be qualified.
Forgetting affiliate links
Affiliate links count as paid links. Many sites qualify banner ads but leave in-text affiliate links unmarked.
Questions
Google accepts either for paid links. It prefers sponsored because it is more specific.
No. A correctly qualified paid link is a normal part of advertising. The risk comes from paid links that are disguised as editorial ones.
