Link Building
Sponsored Tag
The rel="sponsored" attribute is an HTML link attribute introduced by Google in September 2019 to identify hyperlinks created as part of paid placements, advertisements, or sponsorships. It provides a more specific signal than the generic rel="nofollow" for links that are commercially incentivized, helping Google better understand paid link relationships.
Sponsored tag implementation and compliance are audited using Screaming Frog's custom extraction for link attributes and Ahrefs' Backlink Analytics (which categorizes link attributes). Google Search Console's Links report does not separately categorize sponsored links, but proper tagging helps prevent manual action penalties for undisclosed paid links.
Authority Links
Related Terms
Link Building
Backlink
An inbound hyperlink from one website to another — historically the strongest single ranking signal in Google's algorithm, treated as a vote of confidence in the linked page's authority.
Link Building
Nofollow Tag
Nofollow tag is the href rel tag that gives the signal to the search engine bots to disregard specific links.
Link Building
UGC Tag
The tags used in backlinks given through user-generated content are called ugc tags.
Link Building
Dofollow Link
When an external link from a website is marked as "dofollow", it means that the origin site passes its authority to the destination site and Google knows about it.