Number of Sponsored Links is meant to count the links you have marked as sponsored, returned as a whole-number count of anchors in the rendered page body. Important caveat: in RankGear’s current compatibility build this factor actually counts anchors whose rel value contains ugc, which makes it identical to Number of UGC Links — so treat the value as non-actionable until the behavior is revised.
| Factor ID | RG-LNK-017 |
|---|---|
| Family | Links on the page |
| Measurement | Count |
| Measured zone | Anchor links in the rendered page body |
What it measures
The intent of this factor is to count links marked as sponsored — the paid placements, advertisements, and other compensated links a page discloses to search engines. In the current compatibility implementation, however, it counts anchors whose rel value contains ugc, so it currently returns the same number as Number of UGC Links rather than a sponsored-link count.
How RankGear measures it
RankGear parses the anchor tags in the rendered body, trims and lowercases each recognized rel value, and counts the values that contain ugc. It does not currently test for the sponsored token, despite the factor name, so anchors marked only as sponsored are not included in this count.
What RankGear looks for
<!-- counted now: rel value contains "ugc" -->
<a href="/thread" rel="ugc">user-submitted link</a>
<!-- the intended target, NOT counted yet: rel contains "sponsored" -->
<a href="/offer" rel="sponsored">paid placement</a>Anchor rel | Counted by this factor? |
|---|---|
rel="sponsored" | No — not tested, despite the factor name |
rel="ugc" | Yes |
rel="sponsored ugc" | Yes (because the value contains ugc) |
rel="nofollow" only | No |
How to optimize it
Do not modify link markup to influence this score — treat it as an observation, not a target. Mark advertisements, sponsorships, affiliate relationships, and other compensated links according to current search-engine policies, normally using the appropriate sponsored relationship, and reserve ugc for genuine user-generated links. Correct disclosure is the goal; the count is a side effect that, in this build, does not even reflect your sponsored markup.
Important considerations
- The current value does not measure sponsored links — it mirrors the UGC-link count.
- A zero does not prove sponsored links are absent from the page.
- Treat this factor as non-actionable until its compatibility behavior is revised.
- Audit paid-link disclosure and relationship markup independently of this score.
- This is a measured signal that relates to position within a result set, not a cause of ranking; it does not make a page rank or guarantee any position.
Related factors
Part of the Factors reference · how RankGear measures · glossary.