Google is updating the nofollow link attribute “rel=“nofollow” and introducing new additional attributes to help Google understand the nature of links.
Now Google is adding two new link attribute with “rel=“nofollow” as follows:
- rel=“sponsored”: Identifies links on a site that were created as part of advertising, sponsorships or similar agreements.
- rel=“ugc”: Identifies links that appear within user generated content.
Google is going to make sure, users will not ignore this update, also given the explanation :
“Links contain valuable information that can help us improve search, such as how the words within links describe content they point at. Looking at all the links we encounter can also help us better understand unnatural linking patterns. By shifting to a hint model, we no longer lose this important information, while still allowing site owners to indicate that some links shouldn’t be given the weight of a first-party endorsement.”
