Identify the commercial relationship
Inventory placements, exchanges, free products and partnerships. Tell readers when compensation influences a publication. The rel="sponsored" attribute qualifies advertising links for Google; the technical attribute does not replace an appropriate visible disclosure.
Examine the reason for publication
Would the article still help someone if its link provided no ranking benefit? Assess accuracy, audience and transparency. Pages without a distinct purpose and unnaturally repeated anchors do not create editorial evidence. A sponsorship label cannot make an invented test truthful.
Audit before making broad changes
Do not assume every unusual backlink caused a traffic decline. Keep source URL, destination, relationship and observation date. Begin with links and misleading pages you control. Mass removal or disavowal requires a specific assessment, not an automatic rule based on a domain score.
- Relationship
- Disclosure
- Qualification
- Review
Worked example
A supplier-funded comparison can disclose funding, distinguish verified specifications from opinion and qualify its commercial link. An attribute does not validate unsupported performance claims.
Check before moving on
These checkboxes are not saved.
Sources & method
Sources reviewed on 1 October 2026. Worked calculations use explicitly hypothetical inputs.
Topic provenance: Vente de liens : le début des sanctions ? (2007-10-25). Search Engine Feng Shui. Byline retained in the consulted version: François Houste.
This guide is newly written in 2026. It does not reproduce the earlier text and is not attributed to its historical author.