The UGC link attribute is the value rel="ugc" added to links inside content written by users rather than by the site itself. Google introduced it in 2019 together with rel="sponsored". It tells search engines that the site is not vouching for the destination, which protects community sites from being associated with spam their users post.
Where it applies
Any part of a site where outside people can publish links is user-generated content. On SaaS sites that usually means a community forum, a product idea board, comment sections on the blog, public user profiles, or a template gallery where customers submit their own work.
<!-- Forum post body rendered by the community platform -->
<a href="https://member-site.example/" rel="ugc">my write-up</a>Why it matters to the host site
Open link fields attract spammers, because a link on an established domain looks valuable to them. Google's spam policies name user-generated spam as a problem, and a site that lets it pile up can face a manual action for it. Marking UGC links reduces the incentive for spammers and signals to Google that the links are not your endorsements.
Google has also said that links from trusted, long-standing contributors can be left unqualified if you choose. Some communities remove the attribute once a member reaches a certain reputation level.
Hint behavior
Like nofollow and sponsored, ugc is treated by Google as a hint. Google may still crawl the destination or use the link in other ways. It does not publish detailed rules for that, so treat a ugc link as one that passes little or no ranking credit.
Example
A product community forum
An illustrative workflow tool, Ferncastle, hosts a public forum where customers share automation recipes. Its forum software adds rel="ugc" to every link in posts by default. After a wave of spam accounts posting links to unrelated sites, the team also adds moderation for first posts. The forum stays useful, and the spam links never carry Ferncastle's endorsement.
Common mistakes
Assuming the platform handles it
Some community and comment tools add ugc or nofollow by default and some do not. Check the rendered HTML rather than the settings page.
Relying on the attribute instead of moderation
The attribute removes your endorsement but not the spam. Pages full of spam links still look low quality to visitors and search engines.
Questions
Either works for Google. ugc is more descriptive, and you can combine them as rel="ugc nofollow".
They are backlinks in the plain sense, and they can send visitors, but most forum links are qualified and pass little ranking credit.
