Google’s Search Advocate John Mueller says websites will not receive a manual penalty for using affiliate links without the recommended markup.
This is stated during the Google Search Central SEO office-hours hangout recorded on December 10.
A question is submitted asking if a website will be penalized for not marking up affiliate links with the rel=”sponsored” or rel=”nofollow” attributes.
In short, Mueller says: “Probably not.”
For his full answer continue reading the section below.
Google’s John Mueller On Manual Penalties For Affiliate Links
To be sure, it’s a strongly recommended best practice to use either the rel=”sponsored” or rel=”nofollow” attributes on affiliate links.
Advertisement
Continue Reading Below
However,there’s no reason to lose sleep if there are affiliate links on your site without the recommended markup.