The rel attribute sits on a link and describes the relationship between your page and the page it points at. It has many possible values. Three matter for search: nofollow, sponsored and ugc. A link with none of them is followed, which means it may pass ranking credit to its destination.
<a href="https://example.net" rel="nofollow">example</a>| Value | Use it for |
|---|---|
sponsored | Links you were paid for or given something for |
ugc | Links written by visitors, in comments and forum posts |
nofollow | Anything else you don’t want to vouch for |
Why it matters
Search engines treat a followed link as an endorsement. Marking a link tells them you are not endorsing it. Google treats the values as hints, not rules, but they are the accepted way to link to a site without vouching for it, and paid links that are left unmarked are against its policies. For a site with many authors or visitors posting links, they are the main defence against being used as a link source.
How Link Signals reads it
Link Signals records how every outbound link is marked and shows it in the report and the CSV. It also reads a page-level <meta name="robots" content="nofollow">, which makes every link on that page nofollow. Other rel values, such as noopener, are ignored. If the same destination is linked twice and either copy is followed, it counts as followed. For links written by an old report, before this was tracked, how the link is marked is shown as unknown rather than guessed.
Marking does not change the verdict. A flagged link that is nofollow is still flagged. What changes is the advice. A flagged link that is still followed is the one to deal with first, and a marked one is reported as already passing no credit, though visitors can still follow it.
Common misunderstandings
- Nofollow is not a fix for a hacked page. It is a reason to look, not a reason to leave the link in.
- The values are hints. Google may still use a nofollowed link as a signal.
- Internal links rarely need a marker. Link Signals looks at outbound links only.
Which one to use, and what Link Signals says about a flagged link that is still followed, is in which rel should a link have.
Questions
Can I use more than one value?
Yes. Separate them with a space, for example rel="nofollow sponsored". Link Signals shows the most specific one: sponsored, then ugc, then nofollow.
Does it matter for affiliate links?
Yes. Affiliate links are paid links and should be marked sponsored.
Run a scan and find where these show up on your own site.
