SEO

Should Guest Post Links Be Marked Sponsored? Ask An SEO

Published

2 years ago

May 17, 2022

This week’s Ask an SEO question comes from John in London, England, who asks:

“I came here from your post Should You Use Nofollow, Sponsored, or UGC Links?
In the ‘Affiliate Links’ paragraph you write, ‘These should be sponsored because you are posting them with the goal of earning a commission.’
My question is, should this strategy also be implemented for guest posts?
When I’m going to publish my article on someone’s site, should I have to tell him to use a sponsored link attribute?
I’m running an affiliate site and I know my outbound link should be sponsored but for backlinks I don’t know exactly.
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I hope you understand my question. Looking forward for your response.”

Hi John,

Thank you for writing a follow-up to my post and for the great question.

Before I give you an answer, the editor asked me to share this post about Google’s warning with guest posting for backlinks.

In short, if you paid for the guest post, then the link should have sponsored markup as you are sponsoring.

But keep in mind that any attribute attached to the link will signal to Google that it is not a natural link, and if it does, the link will likely not help you with SEO.

There is debate about nofollow actually passing value, as some Googlers have stated it is a suggestion and not a guarantee.

To be safe, I consider both “nofollow” and “sponsored” not beneficial for SEO.

The full answer is to determine if the link would be natural, if it is in an author’s bio, or if the person reading will find value by clicking on it.

If you are a cited expert on a topic and the website has you writing as an expert, and you are linking to a page on your website that provides a value-adding explanation of a concept, then it likely makes sense to have a do follow link.

Here are two examples:

1. You are talking about a topic that has a formula or needs an in-depth explanation.

But that explanation will not add value to the article. You could give yourself a backlink to help the reader learn more.

2. The same goes for your author bio.

If you’re a regular contributor and people subscribe to your column, then it would make sense to have a backlink to your website so your fans can engage with you.

This also helps build upon the “E-A-T” concept if your website features where else you’re published, accolades, and certifications.

But there is a fine line.

If you paid to post, there needs to be an advertising disclaimer that payment (cash, product for review, etc.) was exchanged.

Google will eventually get better at looking for this.

When Google does, I assume they will try to associate the “dofollow” link to your site with the disclaimer, and the link may not count as much (if at all) since it is clearly sponsored or placed by you as the author.

So why not just remove the disclaimer?

If the disclaimer or disclosure is not there, you may be violating FTC (here’s a good guide they created) and some international guidelines. I’m not a lawyer, so I cannot say this definitively but you need to be aware.

I believe they have the same restrictions for you in the U.K., as well.

If the blog you’re posting on is part of a PBN (private blogger network) and the PBN has been mapped or is known by Google, and you use this same type of guest posting as a link acquisition strategy, you could get penalized.

Many people who use guest posting for backlinks try to hide their backlinks or make them look natural by linking to competitors and other trusted resources, but this isn’t foolproof, and it can still be tracked.

You’re in a very grey area. If you want to be safe, ask for sponsored or nofollow markup and only post to sites where you’ll attract a relevant audience to your own website.

Guest posting for backlinks is not a good strategy on its own.

A good strategy is creating really good content that solves a problem or provides an easier way to understand the topic.

Next, reach out to the blog owner with a custom-written email – do not use a template – and let them know you enjoyed their site with specific callouts to show you read it.

Last, mention their site does not have a solution for AB.

AB is where you come in.

You can now either provide a link and say it might be beneficial to their readers or ask if it is ok to have them review it or for feedback.

By asking permission first, I have gotten a better response rate because I approach the blogger in a friendly and more engaging way.

But you have to customize the email and make it about them, not about you.

I hope this helps, and great question! This topic comes up a lot.

More resources:

Featured Image: KatePilko/Shutterstock

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SEO

Google Declares It The “Gemini Era” As Revenue Grows 15%

Published

3 mins ago

April 26, 2024

Max

Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company, announced its first quarter 2024 financial results today.

While Google reported double-digit growth in key revenue areas, the focus was on its AI developments, dubbed the “Gemini era” by CEO Sundar Pichai.

The Numbers: 15% Revenue Growth, Operating Margins Expand

Alphabet reported Q1 revenues of $80.5 billion, a 15% increase year-over-year, exceeding Wall Street’s projections.

Net income was $23.7 billion, with diluted earnings per share of $1.89. Operating margins expanded to 32%, up from 25% in the prior year.

Ruth Porat, Alphabet’s President and CFO, stated:

“Our strong financial results reflect revenue strength across the company and ongoing efforts to durably reengineer our cost base.”

Google’s core advertising units, such as Search and YouTube, drove growth. Google advertising revenues hit $61.7 billion for the quarter.

The Cloud division also maintained momentum, with revenues of $9.6 billion, up 28% year-over-year.

Pichai highlighted that YouTube and Cloud are expected to exit 2024 at a combined $100 billion annual revenue run rate.

Generative AI Integration in Search

Google experimented with AI-powered features in Search Labs before recently introducing AI overviews into the main search results page.

Regarding the gradual rollout, Pichai states:

“We are being measured in how we do this, focusing on areas where gen AI can improve the Search experience, while also prioritizing traffic to websites and merchants.”

Pichai reports that Google’s generative AI features have answered over a billion queries already:

“We’ve already served billions of queries with our generative AI features. It’s enabling people to access new information, to ask questions in new ways, and to ask more complex questions.”

Google reports increased Search usage and user satisfaction among those interacting with the new AI overview results.

The company also highlighted its “Circle to Search” feature on Android, which allows users to circle objects on their screen or in videos to get instant AI-powered answers via Google Lens.

Reorganizing For The “Gemini Era”

As part of the AI roadmap, Alphabet is consolidating all teams building AI models under the Google DeepMind umbrella.

Pichai revealed that, through hardware and software improvements, the company has reduced machine costs associated with its generative AI search results by 80% over the past year.

He states:

“Our data centers are some of the most high-performing, secure, reliable and efficient in the world. We’ve developed new AI models and algorithms that are more than one hundred times more efficient than they were 18 months ago.

How Will Google Make Money With AI?

Alphabet sees opportunities to monetize AI through its advertising products, Cloud offerings, and subscription services.

Google is integrating Gemini into ad products like Performance Max. The company’s Cloud division is bringing “the best of Google AI” to enterprise customers worldwide.

Google One, the company’s subscription service, surpassed 100 million paid subscribers in Q1 and introduced a new premium plan featuring advanced generative AI capabilities powered by Gemini models.

Future Outlook

Pichai outlined six key advantages positioning Alphabet to lead the “next wave of AI innovation”:

Research leadership in AI breakthroughs like the multimodal Gemini model
Robust AI infrastructure and custom TPU chips
Integrating generative AI into Search to enhance the user experience
A global product footprint reaching billions
Streamlined teams and improved execution velocity
Multiple revenue streams to monetize AI through advertising and cloud

With upcoming events like Google I/O and Google Marketing Live, the company is expected to share further updates on its AI initiatives and product roadmap.

Featured Image: Sergei Elagin/Shutterstock

SEO

brightonSEO Live Blog

Published

17 hours ago

April 25, 2024

Entireweb News Bot

Hello everyone. It’s April again, so I’m back in Brighton for another two days of ~~sun~~, sea, and SEO!

Being the introvert I am, my idea of fun isn’t hanging around our booth all day explaining we’ve run out of t-shirts (seriously, you need to be fast if you want swag!). So I decided to do something useful and live-blog the event instead.

Follow below for talk takeaways and (very) mildly humorous commentary.

SEO

Google Further Postpones Third-Party Cookie Deprecation In Chrome

Published

20 hours ago

April 25, 2024

Max

Close-up of a document with a grid and a red stamp that reads "delayed" over the word "status" due to Chrome's deprecation of third-party cookies.

Google has again delayed its plan to phase out third-party cookies in the Chrome web browser. The latest postponement comes after ongoing challenges in reconciling feedback from industry stakeholders and regulators.

The announcement was made in Google and the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) joint quarterly report on the Privacy Sandbox initiative, scheduled for release on April 26.

Chrome’s Third-Party Cookie Phaseout Pushed To 2025

Google states it “will not complete third-party cookie deprecation during the second half of Q4” this year as planned.

Instead, the tech giant aims to begin deprecating third-party cookies in Chrome “starting early next year,” assuming an agreement can be reached with the CMA and the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

The statement reads:

“We recognize that there are ongoing challenges related to reconciling divergent feedback from the industry, regulators and developers, and will continue to engage closely with the entire ecosystem. It’s also critical that the CMA has sufficient time to review all evidence, including results from industry tests, which the CMA has asked market participants to provide by the end of June.”

Continued Engagement With Regulators

Google reiterated its commitment to “engaging closely with the CMA and ICO” throughout the process and hopes to conclude discussions this year.

This marks the third delay to Google’s plan to deprecate third-party cookies, initially aiming for a Q3 2023 phaseout before pushing it back to late 2024.

The postponements reflect the challenges in transitioning away from cross-site user tracking while balancing privacy and advertiser interests.

Transition Period & Impact

In January, Chrome began restricting third-party cookie access for 1% of users globally. This percentage was expected to gradually increase until 100% of users were covered by Q3 2024.

However, the latest delay gives websites and services more time to migrate away from third-party cookie dependencies through Google’s limited “deprecation trials” program.

The trials offer temporary cookie access extensions until December 27, 2024, for non-advertising use cases that can demonstrate direct user impact and functional breakage.

While easing the transition, the trials have strict eligibility rules. Advertising-related services are ineligible, and origins matching known ad-related domains are rejected.

Google states the program aims to address functional issues rather than relieve general data collection inconveniences.

Publisher & Advertiser Implications

The repeated delays highlight the potential disruption for digital publishers and advertisers relying on third-party cookie tracking.

Industry groups have raised concerns that restricting cross-site tracking could push websites toward more opaque privacy-invasive practices.

However, privacy advocates view the phaseout as crucial in preventing covert user profiling across the web.

With the latest postponement, all parties have more time to prepare for the eventual loss of third-party cookies and adopt Google’s proposed Privacy Sandbox APIs as replacements.

Featured Image: Novikov Aleksey/Shutterstock