In short: Google's guidance is that links placed in exchange for payment should be qualified with rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow", while a plain link with no attribute (often called dofollow) is meant for editorial endorsements. "Dofollow" is an industry term, not an official attribute. Google treats these attributes as hints and cannot promise how any link will be handled, so the choice involves trade-offs, not a guarantee either way.
Dofollow, nofollow, sponsored, ugc: what the terms mean
People who buy or sell advertorials argue about link attributes constantly, usually with more heat than precision. A short glossary clears most of the confusion.
- Dofollow. Not an official attribute. It is a nickname for an ordinary link with no
relvalue that restricts it. Search engines may treat it as an endorsement. - rel="nofollow". A value introduced years ago to tell search engines not to treat a link as an endorsement. Today it is the generic way to say “I do not vouch for this.”
- rel="sponsored". A more specific value that marks a link as an advertisement, a paid placement or a sponsorship.
- rel="ugc". A value for links in user-generated content, such as comments and forum posts.
Google describes these values in its documentation on qualifying outbound links. You can combine values, for example rel="sponsored nofollow". Note that Google has said it treats these attributes as hints rather than strict instructions, an important qualification to which we return below.
If you are new to the format itself, start with what SEO advertorials are. This article assumes you know that an advertorial usually contains links to the advertiser’s site, as in the articles we publish through our SEO advertorial publishing service.
What Google says about paid links
Google’s position is stated in its spam policies. In short, it treats links that are intended to manipulate ranking as link spam, and it lists buying or selling links that pass ranking signals among the examples, including exchanging goods or services for links. The recommended way to handle paid or sponsored links is to mark them with rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow".
That guidance does not say that advertorials are forbidden, or that a sponsored article has no value. It says that the link attribute should reflect the relationship. A link that was paid for is not the same thing as a link someone placed because they thought your page was worth reading, and Google asks publishers to be honest about the difference.
If money or goods changed hands for a link, Google’s documentation points to sponsored or nofollow. A link with no attribute is meant to signal a genuine editorial choice. Whether you follow this to the letter is a decision with consequences, which the rest of this article sets out.
What “risk” actually means
The word is used loosely, so it helps to be precise. Google has said that its systems are designed to detect link spam and ignore or neutralise it, which in many cases means a manipulative link simply stops counting rather than triggering a penalty. In more serious or repeated cases, the company can apply a manual action, and a site may lose visibility until the problem is fixed. You can read more about how sites can respond in our guide to a risky backlink profile.
The chance of any of this happening depends on factors nobody outside Google can quantify: volume of paid links, how obvious the pattern is, how relevant the sites are, and what the rest of your profile looks like. A single well-placed link in a relevant article is a very different case from dozens of exact-match links on unrelated sites. Be wary of anyone who tells you a particular approach is completely safe, or completely dangerous. Nobody can promise either.
The choices and their trade-offs
| Option | Alignment with Google’s guidance | Possible benefits | Possible drawbacks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plain link (dofollow) | Does not follow the guidance for paid links | May pass ranking signals if Google counts it | Carries the risk described above; value can be discounted |
| sponsored | Matches Google’s recommendation for paid placements | Honest labelling; still sends traffic and visibility | Less likely to pass ranking signals |
| nofollow | Accepted alternative to sponsored | Same as above; widely supported | Less likely to pass ranking signals |
| sponsored nofollow | Fully aligned | Maximum caution | Same as above |
None of the rows is a guarantee. Because Google treats attributes as hints, a nofollow link can sometimes be used as a signal and a plain link can sometimes be ignored. The table shows tendencies, not outcomes.
What our publishing does by default, and what you can choose
Transparency here is better than a vague promise. At Succes Grup, the links in an article are dofollow by default, placed in the body of the text on the anchors chosen by the client. Nofollow is used only if the client asks for it explicitly. That is how our service is built, and you should know it before you order.
What follows from this is that you are the one deciding how much weight to give Google’s guidance. Some clients accept a dofollow link as a calculated decision, using it sparingly, in relevant publications and as one part of a varied profile. Others prefer to follow the guidance strictly and ask for nofollow, and judge a placement mainly on traffic, brand visibility and context. Both are legitimate choices, and neither is a promise about rankings. If you want a different attribute from the default, say so when you place the order.
It is also worth separating two things. The attribute concerns how search engines may treat the link. The labelling of the content concerns readers. In Romania, advertising law (Law 148/2000) requires advertising to be recognisable as such, and disguised advertising is a known problem; it is also one of the things the Succes Grup publishing rules prohibit. This is a general observation, not legal advice. Our 12 reasons an editor rejects an advertorial covers the editorial side in more detail.
How to decide for your own campaign
A few questions help you choose between the options.
- What is the goal of this placement? If it is awareness, referral traffic or a citation for a funded project, the attribute matters less. If you are chasing rankings, be aware that this is exactly the situation Google’s guidance targets.
- How many such links are you planning? A handful of relevant links is different from a bulk campaign.
- How relevant are the sites? A relevant publication is easier to defend than an unrelated one. See how to choose a site for an advertorial.
- What is your risk tolerance? A new site with little else may want to be more cautious than an established brand with a large, varied profile.
- What does the rest of the profile look like? A mix of attribute types, anchors and sources looks more natural than a single repeated pattern.
Write down your reasoning. If the situation changes, such as a change of strategy or new guidance from Google, you will know why you decided as you did and can adjust.
How to check which attribute a link carries
You do not have to take anyone’s word for what a link does. After publication, you can check it in about a minute.
- Open the live article in a desktop browser.
- Right-click the link and choose “Inspect” (the exact wording varies by browser).
- Look at the highlighted line of HTML. If you see
rel="nofollow",rel="sponsored"orrel="ugc", the link is qualified. If there is norelvalue of that kind, it is an ordinary link. - Note the result next to the URL in your records, so you can compare it with what you ordered.
Be aware that a page can also carry a page-level instruction in its meta tags or headers, and that plugins and themes sometimes add attributes automatically. If what you find differs from what was agreed, raise it with the publisher. This check also helps with your own site: if you accept guest posts or run a comment section, make sure the links you host are labelled appropriately.
Common misunderstandings
- “Nofollow links are worthless.” Not true. They can send readers and build recognition, and Google may use them as hints.
- “Dofollow links are always better.” A plain link on an irrelevant or manipulative site can be worth nothing, or worse.
- “Adding rel=dofollow helps.” There is no such value; omit it.
- “Sponsored means the article is hidden.” The attribute is invisible to readers. It concerns how search engines interpret the link, not the visible text.
- “Everything is safe if I use nofollow.” The attribute addresses link spam concerns, but it does not excuse misleading content, which is a separate matter.
- “My competitor has dofollow links, so it must be fine.” You see only what is visible. You do not know their risk or what Google has decided about it.
A note for projects that need a plain link
Some links exist for reasons that have little to do with ranking. A beneficiary of European funding, for example, may need a publication to point to the official project page so that the public can find the full information. In that case, the visible text and the permanent address matter more than the attribute. Our publicity checklist for an EU-funded project explains what evidence to keep. The principle is the same: pick the attribute to suit the purpose, and be able to explain the choice.
Your next step
Decide, before your next order, which attribute you want and why. If your answer is nofollow, say so when you book; if it is the default dofollow, make sure the site, the anchor and the number of links are the kind you could defend. For the process, rules and portfolio behind our SEO advertorial publishing, the service page has the details.
We cannot promise how Google will treat any link, and neither can anyone else. What we can do is publish clearly, keep articles at a stable address, and report the live URLs so that you can check the attribute yourself with the browser’s inspect tool and decide what to do next. If you are still unsure, talk to us about your plan before you commit.
Frequently asked questions
Is "dofollow" an official HTML attribute?
No. There is no rel="dofollow" in the specification or in Google's documentation. The word is industry shorthand for an ordinary link with no qualifying attribute, which search engines may treat as an endorsement that passes ranking signals. Adding rel="dofollow" does nothing useful and may simply be ignored.
Does Google recommend nofollow or sponsored for paid links?
Google's documentation says links that are advertisements or paid placements should be marked with rel="sponsored", and that rel="nofollow" is also acceptable for such links. Both signal that the link is not an editorial vote. It also warns that buying or selling links meant to pass ranking signals can break its spam policies.
Can a nofollow or sponsored link still be useful?
Yes. Such a link can still send visitors, put your brand in front of a relevant audience and support discovery of your pages. Whether it also influences rankings is up to Google, which treats the attributes as hints. Many marketers judge a placement by its traffic, visibility and context rather than by the link attribute alone.
Does Succes Grup publish dofollow or nofollow links?
By default the links in articles are dofollow, placed in the body on the anchors chosen by the client. Nofollow is applied only on explicit request. Because Google's guidance on paid links is cautious, it makes sense to decide before ordering which attribute you want and to be aware of the trade-offs.
What is the risk of a dofollow paid link?
Google's spam policies treat links that exist mainly to manipulate rankings as link spam. Its systems try to neutralise them, and in serious or repeated cases a manual action is possible. The risk grows with volume, obvious patterns and irrelevant sites. Nobody outside Google can promise that a particular link is safe or unsafe.