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Decoding the Jargon

Nofollow

Also called rel="nofollow", rel="sponsored", rel="ugc", link attributes

SEOTerm

A label on a link (rel="nofollow") asking Google not to associate your site with, or crawl, the linked page. Google also asks for rel="sponsored" on paid or ad links and rel="ugc" on user-generated links such as comments. Google treats these as hints.

Example

When Meera pays a blogger for a sponsored post, the link to her store should carry rel="sponsored". Links in her own blog comments carry rel="ugc".

How you'll hear it

“That paid placement must be marked sponsored, or it is a link scheme under Google's policies.”

Don't confuse it with

  • noindex: keeps a page out of Google's index. Nofollow is about a link, not the page that contains it.

Related terms

Want to use this at work? AI-led SEO Excellence is aFactor's 16-week program for SEO work.

Sources

  1. Qualify your outbound links to Google, Google Search Central
  2. Spam policies for Google web search, Google Search Central

Checked 1 October 2026. Examples use a fictional business; figures are illustrative.

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