What Is a Sponsored Link?
A sponsored link is a hyperlink that carries the rel="sponsored" attribute, signalling to Google that the link exists because of a commercial relationship between the publisher and the destination website. Google introduced this attribute in September 2019 alongside the ugc attribute, giving publishers more granular control over how they disclose the nature of their outbound links.
The rel="sponsored" attribute should be applied to links involved in advertising, affiliate arrangements, and any situation where money, goods, or services have been exchanged in return for the placement.
This includes native advertising articles, sponsored content sections, affiliate product links in reviews, and any link placed within paid partnerships. Before 2019, publishers were expected to use rel="noopener" for all paid links.
The sponsored attribute is now the preferred way to disclose these arrangements, though Google still accepts nofollow as compliant.
Failing to disclose paid links is a violation of Google's spam policies and can result in penalties. Google has issued manual actions against websites that participate in undisclosed link schemes, causing significant drops in organic search visibility.
For South African SEO and content marketing practitioners, understanding this distinction matters particularly when running influencer campaigns, sponsored blog posts, or affiliate partnerships with local publishers and media houses.
A link can carry multiple rel values simultaneously: rel="sponsored" is valid and acceptable. This combination ensures compatibility with older systems while providing the more specific disclosure Google now prefers. The sponsored attribute does not prevent Google from crawling the linked page; it simply removes the link's ability to pass PageRank.
Sponsored Links In Practice
The scenario below is an illustrative example, not a Juicy Designs client result. It indicates the kind of effect that sponsored link handling typically produces, so treat it as indicative rather than measured.
Picture a Cape Town-based supplement brand that partners with a popular South African fitness blogger to publish a sponsored review article on the blogger's website. The article includes multiple links back to the supplement brand's product pages.
Under Google's guidelines, each of those links must carry rel="sponsored" or at minimum rel="nofollow". If the blogger places standard dofollow links without disclosure, both the blogger's site and the brand's site would risk a manual action or algorithmic devaluation.
South African businesses running affiliate programmes should ensure their affiliates understand the link attribute requirements. Most reputable affiliate networks automatically apply the correct nofollow or sponsored attributes to generated links, but custom or manually created affiliate links need to be checked.
A single sponsored post from a high-domain-authority South African lifestyle site with proper disclosure could still deliver meaningful referral traffic and brand awareness, even though the links themselves do not pass PageRank.
When auditing a website's backlink profile, identifying sponsored links helps distinguish natural editorial mentions from paid placements, giving a clearer picture of the site's genuine organic authority versus its commercial link activity.
What the sponsored attribute does
A sponsored link is a link that has been paid for or is part of an advertising or sponsorship arrangement, and Google's guidelines require such links to be marked so search engines do not treat them as genuine editorial endorsements. The specific marker is the rel="sponsored" attribute, which tells search engines the link is an advertisement or paid placement, so they do not pass ranking signal through it as they would an earned link. This matters because paid links that pass ranking signal without being marked are a link scheme, breaching Google's guidelines, since they manipulate rankings by buying influence. Marking a paid link as sponsored keeps it compliant: the link can exist and function for users, but it does not confer unearned SEO authority. The sponsored attribute (introduced alongside ugc for user-generated content, and used with or in place of the older nofollow) is how a business correctly handles the paid and sponsored links it places or receives, keeping its link practices within Google's rules.
Sponsored links and compliance
Handling sponsored links correctly is a matter of both SEO compliance and, often, advertising disclosure. For SEO, any link that is paid for, part of a sponsorship, an advertisement, or an affiliate link that would otherwise pass ranking signal, should carry rel="sponsored" (or at least nofollow), so it does not pass authority in a way that manipulates rankings, since undisclosed paid links passing signal breach Google's guidelines and risk a penalty. Google now treats these rel attributes as hints, but marking paid links appropriately is the clear, safe practice. Separately, sponsored content and paid links often also require disclosure to consumers under advertising standards, so audiences know a recommendation is paid, which in South Africa aligns with rules on identifying advertising. The two obligations reinforce each other: correctly marking a paid link as sponsored handles the SEO requirement, while clear disclosure handles the consumer one. For businesses that buy, sell or receive paid links, or run sponsored content, the sound approach is to mark such links as sponsored and disclose paid relationships, keeping both search-engine and advertising-standard obligations met and avoiding the penalty risk of undisclosed paid links that pass ranking signal.
FAQ
What happens if I buy links without using the sponsored attribute?
Buying links without proper disclosure violates Google's spam policies. If detected, Google can apply a manual action penalty that removes your site from search results, or the algorithmic spam system may devalue the links. Either outcome harms your organic visibility and requires remediation.
Can I use rel=nofollow instead of rel=sponsored on paid links?
Yes. Google accepts rel=nofollow as sufficient disclosure on paid links. The sponsored attribute was introduced in 2019 to give publishers a more semantically precise option. Using either attribute, or combining them, satisfies Google's link disclosure requirements for paid placements.
What happens if you buy links without the sponsored attribute?
Undisclosed paid links that pass ranking signal are a link scheme, breaching Google's guidelines, and can lead to a manual action or algorithmic demotion if detected, causing lost rankings and traffic. Marking paid links with rel="sponsored" (or nofollow) keeps them compliant, so the link functions for users without conferring unearned, manipulative SEO authority.
Can you use rel=nofollow instead of rel=sponsored on paid links?
Nofollow will still signal that the link should not pass ranking authority and is acceptable, but rel="sponsored" is the more specific, appropriate attribute for paid and advertising links, telling search engines precisely why the link should not be treated as an endorsement. Using sponsored for paid links is the clearer, recommended practice, though nofollow also prevents passing signal.