Rel=sponsored

What Does Rel=sponsored Mean?

Transparency about paid links is not just SEO best practice — it is also legally relevant. If you publish sponsored posts, set affiliate links, or pay for links, rel=sponsored protects you from Google penalties for unnatural link building. Websites that consistently maintain their link attributes appear more trustworthy to Google — and avoid the risk of a manual action.

rel=“sponsored” is a link attribute that marks an HTML element representing a paid, sponsored, or commercial link. This attribute was introduced by Google to distinguish between editorial links and bought links. A link with rel=“sponsored” explicitly tells Google: “This is a paid link, not a genuine editorial recommendation.” The attribute should be used for affiliate links, paid content links, advertising partnerships, and bought ads embedded in page text.

Technically, the rel=“sponsored” attribute is implemented like rel=“nofollow”: <a href="https://example.com" rel="sponsored">. Unlike rel=“nofollow,” Google says that rel=“sponsored” links are still crawled and analyzed — but ranking power is not directly passed on. According to Google, this information is also used to identify manipulative link building. If a website suddenly has many rel=“sponsored” links, it could be a sign of aggressive link selling, which can lead to penalties. However, there is less evidence that the attribute itself triggers a penalty — it is more about transparency.

In practice, all commercial links should be marked with rel=“sponsored” — this is not just best practice but also a matter of transparency and compliance. Sponsored posts should also use the attribute when a company has paid for the mention. The attribute helps Google better understand the link profiles of websites and distinguish legitimate content marketing (with rel attributes) from covert link selling. Websites that consistently use rel attributes appear more trustworthy and transparent.