Nofollow, sponsored and ugc are the three rel attributes Google Search uses to identify links a site owner doesn't want to fully vouch for — nofollow for any link you don't want to endorse, sponsored for paid or compensated placements, and ugc for links inside user-submitted content like comments or forum posts. None of them pass full ranking credit the way an ordinary editorial link does, but since 2020 Google treats all three as hints it may still use for crawling, indexing and even ranking in specific cases, not as a hard instruction to ignore the link entirely.
That distinction trips up a lot of link building strategy: some teams still treat nofollow as a total dead end, while others slap it on nothing and unknowingly build a backlink profile that reads as manipulated. This guide covers what each attribute actually does, why Google changed the rules in 2019-2020, when to use which one, whether nofollow links still carry any SEO value, and how this all applies once you're actually building or earning backlinks.
What do nofollow, sponsored and ugc actually mean?
Nofollow, sponsored and ugc are HTML rel attributes added to an <a> tag to tell Google a link should not be treated as a normal editorial endorsement: nofollow marks any link a site doesn't want to vouch for, sponsored marks links created through advertising, sponsorship or other compensation, and ugc marks links embedded in user-generated content such as comments, forum posts or reviews.
Google's own documentation on qualifying outbound links is explicit that all three attributes work the same way mechanically — they're just different labels for why a link shouldn't be treated as a full endorsement. You can also combine them, so a paid comment link would correctly carry `rel="ugc sponsored"` rather than forcing you to pick just one.
Why Google turned nofollow into a hint instead of a rule
Google turned nofollow into a ranking hint in March 2020 because it wanted the option to still crawl and, in specific cases, use nofollowed links as a signal rather than treating every attribute-tagged link as completely invisible — a shift it previewed alongside the two new sponsored and ugc attributes in a September 2019 Search Central blog post.
Before that change, nofollow was a strict directive: Google would neither crawl through the link nor count it for ranking, full stop. As Search Engine Land reported when the hint model went live, Google now decides case by case whether a nofollowed, sponsored or ugc link is still useful for discovering a page or understanding site relationships, even though it still isn't meant to pass the kind of ranking credit an editorial link does.
When to use sponsored, ugc or plain nofollow
Use rel="sponsored" for any link created through payment, a sponsorship, an affiliate relationship or a product-for-review exchange; use rel="ugc" for links inside content your visitors submit rather than content you wrote; and use plain rel="nofollow" for everything else you don't want to vouch for, like links in a login-gated area, a widget you don't control, or a source you're citing without endorsing.
- rel="sponsored" — paid guest posts, affiliate links, sponsored reviews, advertorials
- rel="ugc" — blog comments, forum posts, user reviews, community-submitted profiles
- rel="nofollow" — untrusted or unverified sources, widget/badge links, anything you're not endorsing
- Combine attributes when both apply, e.g. rel="ugc sponsored" for a paid comment link
Do nofollow links still help SEO in 2026?
Nofollow links still don't pass the kind of direct ranking credit an editorial follow link does, but they can still help SEO indirectly — through referral traffic, brand visibility, and the kind of repeated brand mentions that increasingly feed AI answer engines, even when no individual link is followed. A diverse profile that includes some nofollow links alongside earned editorial links also simply looks more natural than one built entirely of follow links from a handful of sources.
Where this actually matters most is compliance. Google's spam policies for link schemes treat undisclosed paid links that pass full ranking credit as a violation, and its 2021 reminder on link tagging followed a spam update specifically targeting sites that skipped the sponsored tag. A legitimate guest posting program built around genuine editorial placements avoids this problem entirely, because the links it earns are relevant, contextual, and not simply bought outright.
What this means when you're building or earning backlinks
When you're building backlinks, prioritize genuine editorial placements that earn a follow link because the content warrants it, and treat sponsored or ugc links as a complementary layer rather than the core of the strategy — a natural backlink building program ends up with a mix of both, not a profile that's 100% follow links from a narrow set of sources.
This is one reason niche edits and contextual guest content tend to outperform mass link-placement schemes: an editor adding a relevant link to existing, already-ranking content reads as an editorial decision, not a transaction, and it's far less likely to need a sponsored tag in the first place. If you're evaluating providers, our comparison of the best backlink services covers how to tell a genuinely editorial program from one that's just selling placements at scale.
Digital PR coverage sits at the far end of this spectrum. A digital PR placement in a journalist's story is about as organic as a follow link gets, since the reporter is choosing to cite you on merit rather than being paid per link — which is exactly why it tends to be the highest-value, lowest-risk link type available.
Common mistakes with link attributes
Most link-attribute mistakes come from either applying nofollow too broadly by default or applying it too narrowly on purpose, and both create real problems worth catching in a routine audit.
- Letting a CMS or theme silently mark internal links as nofollow — this wastes internal link equity and is worth checking for in a technical SEO audit
- Not tagging paid placements as sponsored, which risks the link being discounted or the site flagged once Google's spam systems catch the pattern
- Assuming a ugc tag alone makes unmoderated comment links safe — spam comments still need moderation, the tag just limits the SEO exposure
- Treating every follow link as equally valuable regardless of the linking page's relevance or authority
- Forgetting attributes on outbound affiliate or sponsorship links reviewed as part of on-page SEO cleanup
Sources
- Google Search Central Blog — Evolving "nofollow": new ways to identify the nature of links
- Google Search Central — Qualify your outbound links to Google
- Google Search Central — Spam policies for Google Web Search (link spam)
- Google Search Central Blog — A reminder on qualifying links and our link spam update
- Search Engine Land — Google to treat nofollow link attribute as a 'hint' after March 1, 2020
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SEO strategy & link building
Written and fact-checked by the UMM SEO team — the strategists, link builders and content specialists who run real SEO campaigns for clients every week. Our guidance comes from hands-on backlink building, technical and on-page SEO, content and digital PR work, not from theory.