{"id":1208,"date":"2023-07-11T19:42:36","date_gmt":"2023-07-11T19:42:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/geniuslink.com\/blog\/?p=1208"},"modified":"2023-08-17T19:27:10","modified_gmt":"2023-08-17T19:27:10","slug":"rel-sponsored-affiliate-links","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/geniuslink.com\/blog\/rel-sponsored-affiliate-links\/","title":{"rendered":"Using \u201crel=sponsored\u201d with Affiliate Links"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"1208\" class=\"elementor elementor-1208\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-e4f6799 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"e4f6799\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-63a3f4e\" data-id=\"63a3f4e\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-859197f elementor-widget elementor-widget-global elementor-global-1455 elementor-widget-theme-post-featured-image\" data-id=\"859197f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"theme-post-featured-image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.19.0 - 29-01-2024 *\/\n.elementor-widget-image{text-align:center}.elementor-widget-image a{display:inline-block}.elementor-widget-image a img[src$=\".svg\"]{width:48px}.elementor-widget-image img{vertical-align:middle;display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"638\" height=\"359\" src=\"https:\/\/geniuslink.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/RelSponsored.png\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-1209\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/geniuslink.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/RelSponsored.png 638w, https:\/\/geniuslink.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/RelSponsored-300x169.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 638px) 100vw, 638px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-509dc6d elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"509dc6d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.19.0 - 29-01-2024 *\/\n.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked .elementor-drop-cap{background-color:#69727d;color:#fff}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-framed .elementor-drop-cap{color:#69727d;border:3px solid;background-color:transparent}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap{margin-top:8px}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap-letter{width:1em;height:1em}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap{float:left;text-align:center;line-height:1;font-size:50px}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap-letter{display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t<p>In 2019, Google shook up the SEO world\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/developers.google.com\/search\/blog\/2019\/09\/evolving-nofollow-new-ways-to-identify\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">by announcing some big changes<\/a>\u00a0to how they treat link attribution. These changes \u2014 while beneficial to how Google understands the web \u2014 nevertheless caused confusion and raised a number of questions in affiliate marketing circles about link attribution best practices, especially with Amazon Affiliate links.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-5b0038d elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"5b0038d\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-3ddf1c6\" data-id=\"3ddf1c6\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3306eae elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"3306eae\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.19.0 - 29-01-2024 *\/\n.elementor-heading-title{padding:0;margin:0;line-height:1}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title[class*=elementor-size-]>a{color:inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-small{font-size:15px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-medium{font-size:19px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-large{font-size:29px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xl{font-size:39px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xxl{font-size:59px}<\/style><h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">What changed?\n<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-a9ac06a elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"a9ac06a\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-8137523\" data-id=\"8137523\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3876721 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"3876721\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The biggest change was the announcement of two new link attributes that provide publishers with additional ways to identify to Google Search the nature of particular links.<br \/><br \/>Expanding upon the existing \u201crel=nofollow\u201d attribute (which has been in use for nearly 15 years now),\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/developers.google.com\/search\/blog\/2019\/09\/evolving-nofollow-new-ways-to-identify\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">there are now two new additional attributes to help aide in qualifying your links:<br \/><br \/><\/a><b>1. rel=\u201dsponsored\u201d: Use the sponsored attribute to identify links on your site that were created as part of advertisements, sponsorships or other compensation agreements.<\/b><\/p><p><b>2. rel=\u201dugc\u201d: UGC stands for User Generated Content, and the ugc attribute value is recommended for links within user generated content, such as comments and forum posts.<\/b><b><\/b><\/p><p>Now, \u201crel=nofollow\u201d has been the staple link attribute for many affiliates for a long time, as it meant Google would not count any links marked this way as a signal for their search algorithms. This is important, as Amazon Associates has had strict policies about not allowing affiliate links to be indexed in Search, so using \u201crel=nofollow\u201d with Amazon affiliate links has been a best practice for quite some time now.<br \/><br \/>However, alongside the announcement of these new attributes, Google has also announced changes to how these attributes are handled by their search algorithms, and how your links are qualified.<br \/><br \/>Previously, \u201cnofollow\u201d functioned as a way to \u201cblock\u201d Google from indexing your links and from including them as signals in their search algorithms \u2013 but as of March 2020, all the link attributes\u2014sponsored, ugc, and nofollow\u2014are treated as \u201chints\u201d meaning Google may choose to crawl them now.<\/p><p>Earlier this year, Google published an article to help clarify how these changes impact commercial and affiliate links, titled:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/developers.google.com\/search\/blog\/2021\/07\/link-tagging-and-link-spam-update\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">A reminder on qualifying links and our link spam update.<br \/><br \/><\/a>Under the Affiliate links subheading, they included the following line:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-e21604e elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"e21604e\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-324c47d\" data-id=\"324c47d\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-989de2f elementor-blockquote--skin-border elementor-blockquote--button-color-official elementor-widget elementor-widget-blockquote\" data-id=\"989de2f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"blockquote.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor-pro - v3.11.5 - 12-03-2023 *\/\n@charset \"UTF-8\";.entry-content blockquote.elementor-blockquote:not(.alignright):not(.alignleft),.entry-summary blockquote.elementor-blockquote{margin-right:0;margin-left:0}.elementor-widget-blockquote blockquote{margin:0;padding:0;outline:0;font-size:100%;vertical-align:baseline;background:transparent;quotes:none;border:0;font-style:normal;color:#55595c}.elementor-widget-blockquote blockquote .e-q-footer:after,.elementor-widget-blockquote blockquote .e-q-footer:before,.elementor-widget-blockquote blockquote:after,.elementor-widget-blockquote blockquote:before,.elementor-widget-blockquote blockquote cite:after,.elementor-widget-blockquote blockquote cite:before{content:none}.elementor-blockquote{transition:.3s}.elementor-blockquote__author,.elementor-blockquote__content{margin-bottom:0;font-style:normal}.elementor-blockquote__author{font-weight:700}.elementor-blockquote .e-q-footer{margin-top:12px;display:flex;justify-content:space-between}.elementor-blockquote__tweet-button{display:flex;transition:.3s;color:#1da1f2;align-self:flex-end;line-height:1;position:relative;width:-moz-max-content;width:max-content}.elementor-blockquote__tweet-button:hover{color:#0967a0}.elementor-blockquote__tweet-button span{font-weight:600}.elementor-blockquote__tweet-button i,.elementor-blockquote__tweet-button span{vertical-align:middle}.elementor-blockquote__tweet-button i+span,.elementor-blockquote__tweet-button svg+span{margin-left:.5em}.elementor-blockquote__tweet-button svg{fill:#1da1f2;height:1em;width:1em}.elementor-blockquote__tweet-label{white-space:pre-wrap}.elementor-blockquote--button-skin-bubble .elementor-blockquote__tweet-button,.elementor-blockquote--button-skin-classic .elementor-blockquote__tweet-button{padding:.7em 1.2em;border-radius:100em;background-color:#1da1f2;color:#fff;font-size:15px}.elementor-blockquote--button-skin-bubble .elementor-blockquote__tweet-button:hover,.elementor-blockquote--button-skin-classic .elementor-blockquote__tweet-button:hover{background-color:#0967a0;color:#fff}.elementor-blockquote--button-skin-bubble .elementor-blockquote__tweet-button:hover:before,.elementor-blockquote--button-skin-classic .elementor-blockquote__tweet-button:hover:before{border-right-color:#0967a0}.elementor-blockquote--button-skin-bubble .elementor-blockquote__tweet-button svg,.elementor-blockquote--button-skin-classic .elementor-blockquote__tweet-button svg{fill:#fff;height:1em;width:1em}.elementor-blockquote--button-skin-bubble.elementor-blockquote--button-view-icon .elementor-blockquote__tweet-button,.elementor-blockquote--button-skin-classic.elementor-blockquote--button-view-icon .elementor-blockquote__tweet-button{padding:0;width:2em;height:2em}.elementor-blockquote--button-skin-bubble.elementor-blockquote--button-view-icon .elementor-blockquote__tweet-button i,.elementor-blockquote--button-skin-classic.elementor-blockquote--button-view-icon .elementor-blockquote__tweet-button i{position:absolute;left:50%;top:50%;transform:translate(-50%,-50%)}.elementor-blockquote--button-skin-bubble .elementor-blockquote__tweet-button:before{content:\"\";border:.5em solid transparent;border-right-color:#1da1f2;position:absolute;left:-.8em;top:50%;transform:translateY(-50%) scaleY(.65);transition:.3s}.elementor-blockquote--button-skin-bubble.elementor-blockquote--align-left .elementor-blockquote__tweet-button:before{right:auto;left:-.8em;border-right-color:#1da1f2;border-left-color:transparent}.elementor-blockquote--button-skin-bubble.elementor-blockquote--align-left .elementor-blockquote__tweet-button:hover:before{border-right-color:#0967a0}.elementor-blockquote--button-skin-bubble.elementor-blockquote--align-right .elementor-blockquote__tweet-button:before{left:auto;right:-.8em;border-right-color:transparent;border-left-color:#1da1f2}.elementor-blockquote--button-skin-bubble.elementor-blockquote--align-right .elementor-blockquote__tweet-button:hover:before{border-left-color:#0967a0}.elementor-blockquote--skin-boxed .elementor-blockquote{background-color:#e6e9ec;padding:30px}.elementor-blockquote--skin-border .elementor-blockquote{border-color:#e6e9ec;border-left:7px #e6e9ec;border-style:solid;padding-left:20px}.elementor-blockquote--skin-quotation .elementor-blockquote:before{content:\"\u201c\";font-size:100px;color:#e6e9ec;font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif;font-weight:900;line-height:1;display:block;height:.6em}.elementor-blockquote--skin-quotation .elementor-blockquote__content{margin-top:15px}.elementor-blockquote--align-left .elementor-blockquote__content{text-align:left}.elementor-blockquote--align-left .elementor-blockquote .e-q-footer{flex-direction:row}.elementor-blockquote--align-right .elementor-blockquote__content{text-align:right}.elementor-blockquote--align-right .elementor-blockquote .e-q-footer{flex-direction:row-reverse}.elementor-blockquote--align-center .elementor-blockquote{text-align:center}.elementor-blockquote--align-center .elementor-blockquote .e-q-footer,.elementor-blockquote--align-center .elementor-blockquote__author{display:block}.elementor-blockquote--align-center .elementor-blockquote__tweet-button{margin-right:auto;margin-left:auto}<\/style>\t\t<blockquote class=\"elementor-blockquote\">\n\t\t\t<p class=\"elementor-blockquote__content\">\n\t\t\t\tAffiliate links on pages such as product reviews or shopping guides are a common way for blogs and publishers to monetize their traffic. In general, using affiliate links to monetize a website is fine. We ask sites participating in affiliate programs to qualify these links with rel=\u201dsponsored\u201d, regardless of whether these links were created manually or dynamically.\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/blockquote>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-6b8484a elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"6b8484a\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-90edfcc\" data-id=\"90edfcc\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-aeb5d16 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"aeb5d16\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Based on this, it sounds like Google wants affiliates to start including the \u201crel=sponsored\u201d attribute on all affiliate links. Whether this will impact your site ranking in the future is still up for debate, but Google has already made it clear that you will not be punished if you do not change old \u201cnofollow\u201d affiliate links to the new \u201csponsored\u201d.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-990e3d0 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"990e3d0\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-665d0ca\" data-id=\"665d0ca\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1e42890 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"1e42890\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">So why is everyone so concerned about this change?<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-a764fb3 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"a764fb3\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-d4815f6\" data-id=\"d4815f6\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-92a8676 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"92a8676\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The reason for the confusion stems from trying to follow Google\u2019s recommended best practices now, while still respecting Amazon\u2019s Associate policies around implying that your content is \u201csponsored\u201d by Amazon.\u00a0<\/p><p>Here\u2019s what Amazon has to say, direct from their Associates Operating Agreement:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-ad963b5 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"ad963b5\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-64744eb\" data-id=\"64744eb\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-29d56fd elementor-blockquote--skin-border elementor-blockquote--button-color-official elementor-widget elementor-widget-blockquote\" data-id=\"29d56fd\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"blockquote.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<blockquote class=\"elementor-blockquote\">\n\t\t\t<p class=\"elementor-blockquote__content\">\n\t\t\t\tYou will not misrepresent or embellish our relationship with you (including by expressing or implying that we support, sponsor, or endorse you), or express or imply any affiliation between us and you or any other person or entity except as expressly permitted by this Agreement.\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/blockquote>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-ea99bc2 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"ea99bc2\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-9bb0d01\" data-id=\"9bb0d01\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8a3678f elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"8a3678f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Now, after reading this, it\u2019s easy to see how the new \u201crel=sponsored\u201d link attribute might get you in trouble with Amazon \u2013 after all, it does say \u201csponsored\u201d right?<br \/><br \/>The Google team has unfortunately overlooked that words have meanings. So the recommended use of the attribute \u201csponsored\u201d now seems to give the impression that you are sponsored by Amazon.<br \/><br \/>To clarify, Amazon affiliate links are NOT sponsored links \u2013 Amazon does not pay you to simply place the links. You get paid only after an affiliate conversion takes place.<br \/><br \/>For over a year now, affiliates have been scrambling to clarify exactly how this new link attribute applies to their Amazon affiliate links. It\u2019s a classic Catch-22 \u2013 no one wants to risk potentially hurting their SEO ranking by not including \u201crel=sponsored\u201d on their links, but if doing so puts your Associates account at risk, is it worth doing?<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-5f1c455 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"5f1c455\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-4be8ed3\" data-id=\"4be8ed3\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a1d8525 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"a1d8525\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">So what to do? \n<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-1db28b2 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"1db28b2\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-9e20ba4\" data-id=\"9e20ba4\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-14aa04e elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"14aa04e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Like many of you may already have done, we scoured the web to try to get a consensus from experts, but were unable to find a clear cut answer.<br \/><br \/>Ultimately, the best place to turn was Amazon themselves, and by asking some of our contacts we were able to get an answer (unfortunately we\u2019re not allowed to show you their response).<br \/><br \/>To summarize,\u00a0<b>using \u201crel=sponsored\u201d with Amazon affiliates links is indeed allowed, and does not pose a compliance risk to your Amazon Associates account.<\/b><br \/><br \/>Long story short, using \u201csponsored\u201d instead of \u201cnofollow\u201d for your affiliate links should not get you in any trouble with the Amazon Associates team.\u00a0 Fortunately, Amazon has realized that \u201csponsored\u201d only stands for a category, not for the description of an actual fact. This means you can safely use the HREF \u201crel=sponsored\u201d attribute with your Amazon affiliate links without fear of implying that your affiliate links are actually \u201csponsored\u201d content.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-4e5bc62 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"4e5bc62\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-6048894\" data-id=\"6048894\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-37a2b9a elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"37a2b9a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Do I need to change my existing nofollows?\n<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-ea82d9b elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"ea82d9b\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-14e9a39\" data-id=\"14e9a39\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5c0feb7 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"5c0feb7\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>At the time of writing this article, these changes have already been in effect fully since March 2020.<\/p><p>Nearly a year and a half later, not much has really changed \u2013 if you want favor with the almighty algorithm and you think your content is good enough to rank at the top of their search results, consider implementing the new \u201csponsored\u201d attribute \u2013 But in the case of rel=\u201dsponsored\u201d vs rel=\u201dnofollow\u201d everything we\u2019ve researched so far says that there\u2019s no real advantage by switching to rel=\u201dsponsored\u201d and no penalty will be incurred if you do not.<\/p><p>To summarize, it\u2019s probably smart to use the new \u201crel=sponsored\u201d param going forward to appease the SEO gods, but currently you will not get any penalty for simply continuing to use \u201cnofollow\u201d.\u00a0 We\u2019ll be watching this issue as it evolves, so stay tuned.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 2019, Google shook up the SEO world\u00a0by announcing some big changes\u00a0to how they treat link attribution. These changes \u2014 while beneficial to how Google understands the web \u2014 nevertheless caused confusion and raised a number of questions in affiliate marketing circles about link attribution best practices, especially with Amazon Affiliate links. What changed? The [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1209,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,39,35],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[46],"class_list":["post-1208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-affiliate-marketing","category-blogging","category-content-creation","author-jesse-lakes"],"authors":[{"term_id":46,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"jesse-lakes","display_name":"Jesse Lakes","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/geniuslink.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/bio-jl-a.jpeg","url2x":"https:\/\/geniuslink.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/bio-jl-a.jpeg"},"first_name":"","last_name":"","user_url":"https:\/\/geniuslink.com\/blog\/author\/jesse-lakes\/","facebook":"","twitter":"","instagram":"","linkedin":"","description":"Jesse is a Native Montanan and the co-founder and CEO of Geniuslink - or, as he likes to say, head cheerleader. Before Jesse co-founded Geniuslink, he was a whitewater rafting guide, worked at a sushi restaurant, a skate\/snowboard shop, was a professional student, and then became the first Global Manager at Apple for the iTunes Affiliate Program."}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/geniuslink.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/geniuslink.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/geniuslink.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geniuslink.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geniuslink.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1208"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/geniuslink.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1208\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geniuslink.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/geniuslink.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geniuslink.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geniuslink.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1208"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geniuslink.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=1208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}