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A backlink marked nofollow, sponsored, or ugc does not automatically pass “nothing.” Google treats these rel values as hints in Search, not as a universal link-value meter or a guarantee of exactly zero ranking effect. The tag tells you about a link’s context and how its publisher qualifies it—not the full value of the link.
The headline’s claim that most backlinks across 20 platforms pass nothing cannot be verified from the available evidence: there is no platform list, dated sample, method, or captured markup to substantiate that comparison. Here’s what the attributes mean and how to check a specific link accurately.
What does a backlink’s rel attribute tell you?
The rel attribute describes the relationship between a page and a linked destination. For SEO, the common values indicate whether a link is paid, user-generated, or one the publisher does not want to associate with or have Google crawl. They are not scores that measure how much ranking value a backlink transfers.
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Google says links with these qualifications are generally not followed, but a destination can still be discovered through a sitemap or links from other pages. That distinction matters: a qualified link is not a guarantee that its destination can never be crawled or indexed.
What do nofollow, sponsored, and ugc mean?
| Value | When it applies | What it does not establish |
|---|---|---|
rel="sponsored" |
Links created as part of advertisements, sponsorships, or other compensation agreements. Google recommends this value for paid placements. | It does not measure the link’s overall value or prove a particular ranking outcome. |
rel="ugc" |
Links in user-generated content, such as comments and forum posts. | It does not mean all links from a site—or even all links in every context on that site—use this value. |
rel="nofollow" |
When the other values do not apply and the publisher prefers not to associate with or have Google crawl the linked page. Google also says it remains acceptable for paid links, though it prefers sponsored. |
It does not guarantee an exactly zero ranking effect or that the destination cannot be found another way. |
Google announced sponsored and ugc on September 10, 2019, and said that these values, along with nofollow, are treated as hints about which links to consider or exclude in Search. Google’s announcement explains the change.
Does a link without rel pass value?
A missing rel attribute is not an error by itself. Google says regular links that it can fetch and parse without qualification do not need a rel value. The absence of the attribute alone does not tell you whether a link will improve rankings; it only means that the anchor has no such qualification in its markup.
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Google’s guidance applies to <a> elements it can crawl. The documentation notes an exception for nofollow, which can also be used in a robots meta tag. Google’s outbound-link guidance covers the values, combinations, and their intended use.
How to check a specific backlink
- Open the page containing the link. Make sure you are viewing the public page where the link appears, rather than relying on a platform-wide description.
- Inspect the rendered anchor. In your browser’s developer tools, use the element inspector to find the link’s
<a>element and read itsrelattribute. For example,rel="nofollow sponsored"contains two values; Google permits values to be combined. - Record the context and destination. Note whether the link is in a profile, post, comment, editorial placement, or paid placement, and whether it points directly to the destination or through a redirect.
- Record the date and access conditions. Save the page URL and observation date, and note whether the page is public and crawlable. Markup can vary by link type and can change over time.
A browser inspection tells you what the rendered page marks up at that time. It does not, by itself, establish how Google will treat that link in a particular ranking decision.
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Why a “20 platforms” result needs more than a tag check
A platform-wide claim requires a consistent sampling method. A profile link, a user post, a comment, and a paid placement may have different markup even when they appear on the same platform. A redirect can also complicate what the visible anchor shows about the eventual destination.
A credible comparison should identify the platforms and sample count for each, show representative public pages, record the rendered anchor and its full set of rel values, distinguish direct links from redirects, and state when each observation was made. Without those details, a claim that “most” links across 20 platforms pass nothing is not a verified finding. Even a well-documented sample would describe the links observed—not automatically every link the platforms publish.
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