Search Marketing Agency
The UGC link attribute stands for “User Generated Content” and is a specific value introduced by Google in 2019 to be used within the rel attribute of links. It’s specifically aimed at signifying links that arise from user-generated content, such as comments and forum posts. This initiative was taken to help Google better understand the nature of links and the context in which they were placed.
In terms of SEO, the introduction of the UGC link attribute offers webmasters a way to differentiate between the links that they themselves place within their content and the links that come directly from their users. This distinction can be especially valuable for sites that have a large amount of user-contributed content, ensuring that their SEO isn’t negatively impacted by potentially low-quality or spammy links within that content.
By marking links with rel="ugc", site owners can effectively communicate to search engines that while they are facilitating user contributions, they don’t necessarily endorse or vouch for every link their users create.