Link attributes & basics · Knowledge
What are rel=“ugc” and rel=“sponsored” for?
In 2019 Google split the one-size-fits-all nofollow into precise flavours: rel=“ugc” marks links from user-generated content (comments, forums), rel=“sponsored” marks paid or compensated links (ads, affiliate, paid placements).
All three are hints of the same family and can be combined (rel=“sponsored nofollow” is valid); classic nofollow remains fully sufficient as a catch-all – no one must migrate old links.
Which flavour when – and the one case with a real duty
The decision tree is short. Did money, products or services flow for the link? Then rel=“sponsored” is the intended label – this is the one case with a real duty: search engine guidelines require paid links to be marked (sponsored preferred, nofollow accepted), and unmarked paid links are the classic trigger for manual penalties; the paid-links question goes deeper. Did a user place the link – comment, forum post, profile, submitted entry? Then rel=“ugc” says precisely that: content from the community, not from the editors. Everything else you simply do not vouch for takes plain nofollow. Why bother with precision when nofollow covers all? Because the labels tell search engines why a link is not a vote – data that helps them treat link patterns fairly; and because a clean rel vocabulary documents your own linking policy for every future editor of the site. In practice the flavours mix well with automation: a site-wide tool (like our JNofollow plugin, labelled recommendation) enforces the safety net, while editors add sponsored or ugc by hand where the precise meaning applies – and thanks to the keep strategy, those hand-set values survive the automation instead of being flattened by it.
Key facts
- rel=“sponsored”: paid/compensated links – marking them is a guideline duty, not a style choice.
- rel=“ugc”: links from user-generated content – comments, forums, submissions.
- Plain nofollow stays the valid catch-all – no migration of old links required.
- Combinable: rel=“sponsored nofollow” and similar mixes are valid HTML and valid hints.
- Automation tip: a keep strategy preserves hand-set ugc/sponsored values.