Google shook up the SEO world in September with a surprise announcement: the rel=nofollow attribute, which for 15 years has instructed search engines not to follow or count a link, will become a "hint" starting March 1, 2020. That means Google will have the option to ignore nofollow tags and count those links for ranking purposes.
This announcement has a lot of SEOs concerned about what it means for their sites and link building strategies. I sat down with Victor Pan, HubSpot‘s SEO strategist, to learn what Google‘s rel=nofollow announcement means for users, and why SEO strategists are so upset about it.
What‘s Changing With Rel=Nofollow in March 2020
First, some quick background. The rel=nofollow tag was introduced by Google in 2005 as a way for sites to mark links that shouldn‘t be followed or counted as "votes" by search engines, either because they were ads/sponsored links or untrusted user-generated content (UGC). Adding rel=nofollow to a link was an instruction for search engines to ignore it.
Fast forward to September 2019, and Google has made two key changes to how nofollow works:
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Nofollow becomes a "hint". Starting March 1, rel=nofollow will no longer be an explicit instruction, but rather a "hint" that Google can choose to ignore. Google may now decide to crawl and count some nofollow links as ranking signals.
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New UGC and sponsored attributes. Google is introducing two new link attributes webmasters can use in place of nofollow: rel="ugc" for user-generated content links, and rel="sponsored" for paid/sponsored links. These are also hints, not directives.
So in a nutshell, nofollow (and the new UGC/sponsored attributes) are no longer guaranteed to keep Google from counting a link. It‘s up to Google‘s discretion. And that loss of control is a big reason why SEOs are upset.
By the Numbers: Why This Change Matters for SEO
To understand the scale of this change, consider some data on how prevalent nofollow links are. According to a 2019 study by Ahrefs, 42.4% of links on the web use the nofollow tag. For very large sites with 1M+ links, it‘s even higher at 60%+.
Many large sites like Wikipedia and Forbes implemented sitewide nofollow policies to avoid passing link equity to untrusted sources. Those links may now start counting. And considering that nofollow links make up 50% of links in some competitive verticals like casinos, real estate and insurance, this change could noticeably impact the link graph and rankings.
But the implications go beyond just having some nofollow links count. Victor Pan explains why SEOs see this move as so disruptive:
"For 15 years, SEOs have used the nofollow tag as a way to control how link equity flows through a site, avoid penalties for things like sponsored links, and deter spammers trying to manipulate rankings. It was a predictable and dependable signal. With this change, that control and predictability is going away – Google gets to decide what counts. Any nofollow links a site has could suddenly start helping or hurting them, and they won‘t have a say. It introduces a lot of new unknowns into the equation."
In other words, rel=nofollow just became a lot less reliable as an off switch. Let‘s dive into some of the specific reasons SEOs are worried.
3 Reasons SEOs Are Upset About the Nofollow Change
Through my conversations with Pan and other SEOs, a few key themes emerged around why this change is concerning for search marketers. Here are the top three reasons:
1. Loss of Control Over Which Pages Get Link Equity
One of the main use cases for rel=nofollow was controlling which pages get link equity. An e-commerce site might add nofollow to links to their policy pages to avoid funneling authority to non-critical parts of the site. Wikipedia nofollowed all their outbound links to avoid "leaking" PageRank.
Without that control, sites lose the ability to sculpt their link graphs. As Cyrus Shepard from Moz tweeted:
"You know all those nofollows you‘ve been using for PageRank sculpting? They may turn into regular, PageRank passing links without any additional action on your part. Google giveth PR, Google taketh away."
Any nofollow links sites have pointed at themselves or other sites could start helping or hurting them without warning. Google may choose to count nofollows to authoritative sources but not spammy ones, or vice versa.
That unpredictability makes it harder to manage a site‘s link profile. As Pan put it:
"It‘s incredibly frustrating because you did the work of adding those nofollow tags for a reason, and now Google can just ignore it. It‘s like your links are going into a black box and you don‘t know what‘s going to come out the other side."
2. Potential for More Spam and Link Manipulation
Another key reason for nofollow was preventing spam links and attempts at manipulating PageRank. With Google now able to choose which nofollow links to count, there‘s concern it could spark a new wave of link spam.
Let‘s say you run a high-authority site that allows user comments or forum posts. Previously, you could add nofollow to all those UGC links to deter people from spamming them to gain PageRank. Now, even with the new rel="ugc" hint, there‘s a possibility those links will pass authority.
As Rand Fishkin noted on Twitter:
"In the past, Wikipedia could nofollow all their outbound links to avoid passing PageRank/link equity to potentially junky sites. Now those nofollowed links may flow link equity. Wikipedia links just became a lot more valuable!"
Given how powerful a link from somewhere like Wikipedia can be, it‘s easy to imagine people trying to take advantage, either by adding their links directly or hacking existing pages. Even on a smaller scale, any site with dofollow UGC links enabled could become a bigger target for spam.
Google has said they have systems to detect link spam and that counting nofollows will allow them to "better understand unnatural linking patterns." But as Pan pointed out to me, determined spammers always find a way:
"Google has been playing whack-a-mole against link spam for almost two decades now. And while they‘ve gotten better at it, spammers and black hat SEOs always adapt their tactics. If Google starts treating nofollow links as votes again, you can bet people will try to exploit that, whether it‘s through buying UGC links, hacking pages, or setting up link networks. The incentives are too strong."
3. The Burden of New Link Attributes for SEOs
Part of Google‘s announcement was introducing two new link attributes as alternatives to rel=nofollow:
- rel="sponsored" for paid/sponsored links
- rel="ugc" for user-generated content links
These attributes are meant to provide Google with more granular information about the context of the link. But like nofollow, they are hints, meaning Google can choose to ignore them or use them as ranking signals.
For SEOs, this change means having to audit existing nofollow links to decide which new attribute to apply. It also complicates the process of evaluating and tagging links going forward. As Barry Schwartz wrote for Search Engine Land:
"Does this mean that going forward, all sites need to not just label their links as nofollow but now need to think about labeling their links as UGC and sponsored? And if you have older pieces of content, should you go back and relabel your nofollowed links?"
Given that Google isn‘t even promising to follow these new attributes, many SEOs are questioning if it‘s worth the extra overhead. Here‘s Pan‘s take:
"Google is basically saying, ‘We want you to give us more data about your links using these new attributes, but we‘re still going to do whatever we think is best.‘ If you‘re an SEO with limited time and resources, it‘s hard to justify going back and relabeling potentially thousands of nofollow links, especially if that work could be ignored."
There‘s also the issue of Google not providing clear definitions for the sponsored and UGC attributes. What counts as "sponsored" beyond explicit paid links? If a blogger includes an affiliate link, is that considered sponsored? These gray areas make implementation trickier.
The Bigger Context: Google‘s Push Toward Link "Hints"
To zoom out for a minute, this rel=nofollow update isn‘t happening in a vacuum. It‘s part of a larger trend of Google moving away from fixed link "rules" to a more flexible "hints" model.
A few key examples:
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In 2017, Google introduced rel="sponsored" as a recommended alternative (but not replacement) for nofollow on paid links.
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That same year, they began treating some "directives" like rel=next/prev as "hints" too.
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More recently, Google has doubled down on using AI/machine learning systems to evaluate E-A-T signals, devaluing traditional link-based metrics.
As Pan sees it, this is all part of Google‘s goal to rely less on binary, manipulable link signals and more on holistic, intent-based algorithms:
"The big picture here is that Google wants to be able to consider all the information on the web, not just what SEOs explicitly tell it to look at. They‘ve realized that by ignoring nofollowed links completely, they were missing out on valuable context about a site‘s reputation and relevance."
"The shift to hints gives them more flexibility to evaluate link value on a spectrum rather than a yes/no follow basis. It‘s kind of like Google saying ‘we‘ll take your suggestions into consideration, but we can‘t be constrained by them.‘ I expect we‘ll see them moving even further in this direction in the future."
While hints are less predictable for SEOs, you can understand why Google favors them. It gives them more control and aligns with their AI-first approach.
How to Adapt Your SEO Strategy for Nofollow 2.0
So what should SEOs do in light of these changes? Here are a few recommendations:
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Use the new link attributes as intended. Adopting rel=sponsored and rel=UGC won‘t guarantee Google ignores those links, but it will provide helpful context. Use them where relevant.
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Focus on high-quality links vs. manipulation. With any link potentially passing value now, spammy tactics like comment spam or link exchanges are even riskier. Building natural, in-content links from authoritative sites is the safest long-term strategy.
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Monitor your backlink profile and disavow spammy links. Keep an eye out for any suspicious new links and consider disavowing them to avoid a potential penalty. Tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush can help with this.
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Prioritize E-A-T over traditional ranking factors. With Google relying less on link-based signals, focus on improving your site‘s expertise, authority and trust (E-A-T). That means investing in high-quality, relevant content and improving factors like site security and transparency.
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Accept that link valuation is becoming more fluid. The days of sculpting PageRank with nofollow are ending. Embrace building a diverse, natural link profile rather than trying to micromanage authority flow. The goal is relevance.
As with any major Google update, the full impact of this change remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: the nofollow attribute is no longer the dependable lever it once was.
Savvy SEOs will need to adapt their strategies to rely less on link-based manipulation and more on creating exceptional content and experiences. The fundamentals still apply – but how we execute them is evolving.
