What Is a Nofollow Link?
A nofollow link is an ordinary HTML link with rel="nofollow" added to its <a> tag. It looks and works the same for a reader. The attribute is a message to search engines about the relationship between the two pages:
<a rel="nofollow" href="https://example.com/">Example</a>Google's documentation, Qualify your outbound links to Google (last updated December 10, 2025, according to the page), says to “Use the nofollow value when other values don't apply, and you'd rather Google not associate your site with, or crawl the linked page from, your site.” For normal links it says: “For regular links that you expect Google to fetch and parse without any qualifications, you don't need to add a rel attribute.” A link with no such attribute is often called a “followed” or “dofollow” link; “dofollow” is not an HTML value and Google's documentation does not use it.
The MDN reference for the rel attribute gives the web-standards meaning: nofollow “Indicates that the current document's original author or publisher does not endorse the referenced document.”
nofollow, sponsored and ugc: Google's Three Link Qualifiers
Google recognises three rel values for qualifying outbound links: sponsored for paid links, ugc for user-generated content and nofollow for everything else. The definitions below are quoted from Google's Qualify your outbound links page as read on October 7, 2026.
| Value | Google's definition (verbatim) | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
rel="sponsored" | “Mark links that are advertisements or paid placements (commonly called paid links) with the sponsored value.” | Ads, sponsorships, paid articles, affiliate-style deals |
rel="ugc" | “We recommend marking user-generated content (UGC) links, such as comments and forum posts, with the ugc value.” | Comment sections, forums, community posts |
rel="nofollow" | “Use the nofollow value when other values don't apply, and you'd rather Google not associate your site with, or crawl the linked page from, your site.” | Links a site does not want to vouch for; still accepted for paid links |
Google adds that for paid links, nofollow “was previously recommended for these types of links and is still an acceptable way to flag them, though sponsored is preferred.” Values can be combined “as a space- or comma-separated list”, for example rel="ugc nofollow". For UGC, Google suggests a site “might remove this attribute from links posted by members or users who have consistently made high-quality contributions over time.”
Where Nofollow Comes From, and the 2019 Change to “Hints”
Nofollow dates from 2005 and was redefined by Google in September 2019. Google's Search Central Blog post “Evolving ‘nofollow’ – new ways to identify the nature of links” (September 10, 2019, by Danny Sullivan and Gary Illyes) says the attribute “was introduced as a means to help fight comment spam” and became one of Google's recommended methods “for flagging advertising-related or sponsored links.”
The same post introduced sponsored and ugc and changed what all three mean to Google:
“When nofollow was introduced, Google would not count any link marked this way as a signal to use within our search algorithms. This has now changed. All the link attributes—sponsored, ugc, and nofollow—are treated as hints about which links to consider or exclude within Search.”
Google gave two dates. The attributes worked as hints “for ranking purposes” from the day of the post. “For crawling and indexing purposes, nofollow will become a hint as of March 1, 2020.” Google explained why: links “contain valuable information that can help us improve search, such as how the words within links describe content they point at.” It also said that in most cases “the move to a hint model won't change the nature of how we treat such links. We'll generally treat them as we did with nofollow before and not consider them for ranking purposes.”
What Nofollow Does and Does Not Do
Nofollow tells Google not to treat a link as an endorsement and generally not to follow it, but it does not hide the linked page from Google. Google's qualify-links page says: “Links marked with these rel attributes will generally not be followed. Remember that the linked pages may be found through other means, such as sitemaps or links from other sites, and thus they may still be crawled.”
| Nofollow does | Nofollow does not |
|---|---|
| Signal that the linking site does not vouch for the page, or that the link is paid or user-generated | Stop readers clicking the link or reaching the page |
Qualify a paid link so it is not a link-spam violation (as does sponsored) | Guarantee Google will ignore the link: it is a “hint” used “along with other signals” |
| Generally mean Google will not follow the link to crawl | Prevent the linked page being crawled or indexed through sitemaps or other links |
| Apply to a whole page when used as a robots meta tag: “Do not follow the links on this page” (Google robots meta tag spec) | Keep a page out of search results; Google says to use noindex for that, and robots.txt to stop it fetching your own URLs |
The 2019 post was blunt about the last point: those relying on nofollow “solely to block a page from being indexed (which was never recommended)” should use other methods.
Google's Link Spam Policy on Paid Links
Google's spam policy makes rel qualification the line between a legitimate paid link and link spam. The Spam policies for Google web search (last updated August 28, 2026, according to the page) define link spam as “the practice of creating links to or from a site primarily for the purpose of manipulating search rankings.” Its examples include “Exchanging money for links, or posts that contain links”, and:
“Advertorials or native advertising where payment is received for articles that include links that pass ranking credit, or links with optimized anchor text in articles, guest posts, or press releases distributed on other sites.”
The policy then says paid links themselves are fine when qualified: “Google does understand that buying and selling links is a normal part of the economy of the web for advertising and sponsorship purposes. It's not a violation of our policies to have such links as long as they are qualified with a rel="nofollow" or rel="sponsored" attribute value to the <a> tag.” The 2019 post adds that to “avoid a possible link scheme action, use rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow"”, and that “Any link that is clearly an ad or sponsored should use sponsored or nofollow”.
Our explainers on whether a paid placement passes SEO value and on whether paid press placements hurt your SEO apply this policy to bought coverage.
What Bing Says About Nofollow
Bing's current help pages do not document nofollow, sponsored or ugc for outbound links. As of October 7, 2026, neither the Bing Webmaster Guidelines nor Bing's Link building help page mentions the attributes. The guidelines list “link buying, link spamming, private networks, and artificial social promotion schemes” under “Link Schemes and Artificial Promotion”, and say links “should be earned organically”.
The Link building page is more permissive about buying for traffic: “buying a link from a busy website can bring you direct traffic, so buying links remain a valid marketing strategy.” It warns that Bing may “form the impression that you are buying links to influence your organic rankings.” Bing's guidelines also ask for standard <a href> links for crawlable internal linking. We found no Bing statement on how it treats a nofollowed link, so this page does not describe one.
How to Check Whether a Link Is Nofollow
You can check any link's rel value in a browser in under a minute; no SEO tool is needed. Google Search Console cannot do it: the Links report help page says “The report doesn’t specify if a link is marked as nofollow.”
- Open the page that contains the link, such as an article that covers your company.
- Right-click the link and choose Inspect. Chrome's DevTools documentation says: “To inspect, right-click an element on a page and select Inspect. DevTools opens the Elements panel and selects the element in the DOM tree.” Other desktop browsers have a similar developer tool.
- Read the highlighted
<a>tag. Look for arelattribute.rel="nofollow",rel="sponsored"orrel="ugc"(alone or combined) means the link is qualified. No rel, or only values such asnoopenerornoreferrer, means it is not. - Check the page head. Search the page's HTML for
<meta name="robots". Anofollowvalue there applies to every link on the page.
The Elements panel shows the page after scripts have run, which is closer to what Google renders than the raw source. To see where your coverage links from in the first place, use our guide on how to see which sites link to you in Search Console, then inspect the individual links.
Why Wire Services and Many Publishers Nofollow Links
Wire services and many publishers qualify outbound links, and Google's spam policy names the content they carry. Press releases “distributed on other sites” with optimised links, and advertorials where payment is received for articles with links “that pass ranking credit”, are both listed as link spam. Qualifying the link removes the violation. Comment sections and forums fall under Google's ugc recommendation.
Our own measurement shows how consistently this is applied on a major wire. In September 2026 we parsed 70 PR Newswire releases: 8 contained an external link in the release body, and all 19 of those links used rel="nofollow". The full method and limitations are in Do wire services nofollow your links?. Publishers do not always say why a given link is qualified; some apply nofollow to all outbound links as a house rule, which the attribute itself does not reveal.
Number of external links by rel value, inside the body of 70 PR Newswire releases, September 24, 2026
Source: Media Morpheus, Do wire services nofollow your links?, original measurement of 70 PR Newswire releases, September 2026.
Only 8 of the 70 releases (11.4%) contained any external link in the body; the 19 links come from those 8. One wire, one listing, one day.
What Nofollow Means for Press Coverage
A nofollowed link in coverage is normal, policy-compliant and still useful for things other than ranking credit. Google says it will “generally” not consider such links for ranking, and treats the attribute as a hint rather than a block. Three practical consequences follow.
- Paid coverage should be nofollow or sponsored. If you pay for a placement and the link is followed, the policy describes that as link spam. A publisher that qualifies paid links is protecting both sides.
- Earned coverage may be nofollowed too. A house policy can qualify every outbound link. That does not make the coverage paid or worthless.
- The value of coverage is not only the link. Readers can still click through, and Google says linked pages “may still be crawled” through other routes. Coverage also builds the independent record that Google's rater guidelines tell raters to check when they judge reputation.
Before buying any placement, ask the vendor in writing which rel value the link will carry, then check it yourself after publication using the steps above. Nothing about a link's attribute guarantees or rules out a ranking change.
Nofollow vs Related Terms
Nofollow is often confused with other controls that sound similar but do different jobs. This table separates them, using Google's definitions.
| Term | Where it goes | What it tells Google | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
rel="nofollow" | On one <a> link | Do not associate my site with, or crawl, this linked page | Qualify outbound links |
rel="sponsored" | On one link | This link is an ad or paid placement | Qualify outbound links |
rel="ugc" | On one link | This link is in user-generated content | Qualify outbound links |
<meta name="robots" content="nofollow"> | In the page head | “Do not follow the links on this page” | Robots meta tag spec |
noindex | Robots meta tag or HTTP header | Do not show this page in search results | Robots meta tag spec |
robots.txt disallow | robots.txt file | Do not fetch these URLs on my site | Qualify outbound links |
Common Misconceptions About Nofollow Links
Most nofollow myths predate Google's 2019 change or confuse link signals with indexing controls. Each claim below is checked against Google's own documents.
| Myth | What the source actually says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| “Google completely ignores nofollow links.” | Since 2019 they are “treated as hints about which links to consider or exclude within Search.” | Google, 2019 |
| “Nofollow stops Google finding the page.” | Linked pages “may be found through other means, such as sitemaps or links from other sites, and thus they may still be crawled.” | Google, qualify links |
| “I must change old nofollow tags on ads to sponsored.” | “You don't need to change any existing markup”; sponsored is recommended “if or when it is convenient.” | Google, 2019 |
| “Selling links is against Google's rules.” | It is “not a violation” if the links are qualified with nofollow or sponsored. | Google spam policies |
| “Search Console shows which backlinks are nofollow.” | “The report doesn’t specify if a link is marked as nofollow.” | Links report help |
| “Marking a normal link sponsored by mistake causes a penalty.” | The impact “would be at most that we might not count the link as a credit for another page.” The problem is the reverse: unqualified paid links. | Google, 2019 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Do nofollow links help SEO at all?
Google says it will generally not consider them for ranking, but treats nofollow as a hint used with other signals, so it does not promise to ignore them. The linked page can still get readers and may still be crawled through other routes.
What is the difference between nofollow and sponsored?
Sponsored marks ads and paid placements; nofollow is for links you do not want to vouch for when no other value applies. Google accepts either for paid links but says sponsored is preferred.
Is a dofollow link an official term?
No. There is no rel="dofollow" value. Google says regular links it can follow need no rel attribute; “dofollow” is informal shorthand for a link without nofollow, sponsored or ugc.
Can I use nofollow and sponsored on the same link?
Yes. Google says rel values can be combined as a space- or comma-separated list, such as rel="nofollow sponsored".
Does nofollow stop a page being indexed?
No. Google says linked pages may still be crawled through sitemaps or other links. To keep a page out of results, Google says to allow crawling and use the noindex rule.
Should paid press placements be nofollow?
Under Google's spam policy, paid links are acceptable only if qualified with rel="nofollow" or rel="sponsored". Advertorials whose links pass ranking credit are listed as link spam.
Why is the link in my earned news article nofollow?
Many publishers qualify outbound links as a house policy, and do not always explain why. A nofollowed link in editorial coverage does not by itself mean the coverage was paid.
Does Bing treat nofollow the same way as Google?
Bing's current Webmaster Guidelines and Link building page, read on October 7, 2026, do not mention nofollow. Bing lists link buying among link schemes but says buying links for traffic remains a valid marketing strategy.
Can Search Console show me which of my backlinks are nofollow?
No. Google's Links report help page says the report does not specify whether a link is marked nofollow. Inspect the link on the linking page instead.
Sources and Methodology
This explainer is built from primary documentation read on October 7, 2026: Google's Qualify your outbound links page, its September 2019 Search Central Blog post on nofollow, its spam policies, its robots meta tag specification and the Search Console Links report help page; Bing's Webmaster Guidelines and Link building help page; Chrome's DevTools documentation; and MDN's reference for the rel attribute. Definitions are quoted verbatim. The PR Newswire figures come from our own September 2026 study, linked above. We did not test how Google or Bing weigh nofollow links, and neither engine publishes that. Google's pages change, so quotations are dated to the day we read them.
- official Google Search Central, Qualify your outbound links to Google, last updated December 10, 2025. Read October 7, 2026.
- official Danny Sullivan and Gary Illyes, Google Search Central Blog, Evolving “nofollow” – new ways to identify the nature of links, September 10, 2019. Read October 7, 2026.
- official Google Search Central, Spam policies for Google web search, last updated August 28, 2026. Read October 7, 2026.
- official Google Search Central, Robots meta tag, data-nosnippet, and X-Robots-Tag specifications. Read October 7, 2026.
- official Search Console Help, Links report. Read October 7, 2026.
- official Microsoft Bing, Bing Webmaster Guidelines and Link building. Read October 7, 2026.
- official Chrome for Developers, Open Chrome DevTools. Read October 7, 2026.
- official MDN Web Docs, rel HTML attribute. Read October 7, 2026.