Nofollow vs sponsored vs UGC: which rel attribute to use

Three small words in a link’s rel attribute tell search engines how a link came to exist. Getting them right keeps you on the right side of Google’s link spam policies and makes disclosures honest. Here is nofollow vs sponsored vs UGC in plain terms, with examples and a quick decision table.

Published: 2026-09-22 · Satelo

The short version

A bit of history

Google introduced rel="nofollow" in 2005, mainly to fight comment spam. For years it was the only option, used for everything from ads to comments to links people simply did not trust.

In September 2019 Google announced two more specific values, sponsored and ugc. At the same time it changed how it treats all three: they became hints rather than strict directives. Google said it would use them as hints for ranking, and from 1 March 2020 also for crawling and indexing. In practice, Google may still choose to crawl a nofollowed URL, but you are telling it that you do not vouch for the link.

rel="sponsored": paid and arranged links

Use sponsored when the link is there because of a commercial relationship:

• Sponsored posts and advertorials.
• Affiliate links.
• Links given in exchange for a free product or service.
• Links that are part of an article exchange or partnership deal.

Google’s spam policies list buying or selling links that pass ranking credit as link spam, and they explicitly say such links should be qualified with rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow". Sponsored is the more descriptive choice. Google has said that nofollow is still acceptable for paid links, so you do not need to rewrite old ones.

This is why Satelo marks links in exchanged articles rel="sponsored" by default. The article is a partner placement, so the honest label is sponsored.

rel="ugc": user-generated content

Use ugc for links that users add, not you: comments, forum threads, community Q&A, reviews. It signals that you, the site owner, did not editorially choose the link. Most modern blog engines already add nofollow (and often ugc) to comment links automatically.

If a trusted community member consistently adds great links, some sites choose to remove the attribute for them over time. That is an editorial decision you are allowed to make.

rel="nofollow": the general opt-out

Use nofollow when you need to link somewhere but do not want to vouch for it, and neither sponsored nor ugc describes the situation. Examples: linking to a page you are criticising, or to a site you have not been able to verify.

Can you combine values?

Yes. The rel attribute accepts several space-separated values. Common combinations:

• rel="sponsored nofollow": useful if you want maximum compatibility with crawlers that only understand nofollow.
• rel="ugc nofollow": often added automatically to comment links.
• rel="noopener noreferrer": unrelated to SEO, these control browser behaviour for links opening in a new tab. They can sit alongside the others.

Example in HTML: <a href="https://example.com" rel="sponsored nofollow">Example</a>

What about Yandex and Bing?

Nofollow is long established and widely documented. Support for the newer sponsored and ugc values varies by search engine, which is one reason some publishers use sponsored nofollow together for paid links. Check each search engine’s current webmaster documentation if this matters for your market.

Do nofollow and sponsored links have any value?

For direct ranking credit, you should assume not: that is the point of the attribute. But links are more than ranking signals. A sponsored article on a relevant site can still bring:

• Referral visitors who click.
• Brand awareness among the right audience.
• Mentions that people, and increasingly AI assistants, notice. See brand mentions vs backlinks.
• Discovery: a crawler may still find your site through the link, since the attributes are hints.

Be wary of anyone who sells "dofollow" placements as their main feature. That is precisely the kind of link Google’s policies describe as spam.

Disclosure is a separate obligation

Rel attributes speak to search engines. Readers need their own disclosure. In the US the FTC’s Endorsement Guides expect material connections to be disclosed clearly; in the UK the ASA and CAP Code require ads to be obviously identifiable. Label sponsored articles visibly ("Sponsored", "Partner content"). More in sponsored content disclosure rules.

How to set link attributes in WordPress

• Block editor: select the link, open the HTML view of the block and add the rel value, or use an SEO plugin.
• SEO plugins: popular plugins such as Yoast SEO and Rank Math add options to mark a link as nofollow or sponsored in the link dialog.
• Comments: WordPress adds nofollow to comment links by default.
• Partner articles: if you host articles through the Satelo Connector plugin, links arrive with rel="sponsored" already set.

Quick decision guide

1. Did someone pay, trade or give you something for this link? Use sponsored.
2. Did a user, not you, add it? Use ugc.
3. Do you need to link but not vouch for it? Use nofollow.
4. Did you choose it freely because it helps readers? No attribute needed.

Common mistakes with link attributes

• Nofollowing every outbound link. Linking freely to good sources is normal and helps readers. Reserve the attributes for links that need them.
• Forgetting internal links. There is rarely a reason to nofollow links within your own site; it only makes your structure harder to understand.
• Labelling the link but not the post. A sponsored article still needs a visible label for readers.
• Missing affiliate links in old posts. Affiliate links added years ago are easy to overlook. A site-wide search for affiliate parameters helps.
• Relying on JavaScript to hide links. If it is a paid link, mark it properly instead of trying to hide it.

Next steps

Audit your recent sponsored posts and partner content and make sure links are labelled. Before buying or exchanging a placement, check the site with the free Quality Score tool. If you run WordPress and want partner articles with correct attributes set automatically, connect your site. For context on exchanges, read guest posting vs link exchange.

FAQ

What is the difference between nofollow and sponsored?

Sponsored specifically marks paid or arranged links. Nofollow is the general way to say you do not vouch for a link. Google accepts either for paid links, but sponsored is more descriptive.

When did Google introduce sponsored and ugc?

Google announced rel=sponsored and rel=ugc in September 2019, and at the same time began treating all three attributes as hints.

Can I use rel=sponsored nofollow together?

Yes. Multiple space-separated values are valid, and combining them helps with crawlers that only recognise nofollow.

Do sponsored links help SEO?

They are not meant to pass ranking credit. They can still bring referral traffic, brand awareness and discovery.

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