Thinking of buying backlinks? Read this first
Pay for readers, not for a link Google says not to count.
Facts checked 11 Oct 2026 · by the AdSworn team
Google's spam policies name buying or selling links for ranking purposes, including paying for posts that contain links, as link spam. Paid links are allowed when they're marked rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow", which tells Google not to pass ranking credit. So the safe thing to buy is not the link but the audience: a labelled sponsorship on a page your buyers already read, judged on the visits and customers it sends.
What Google says about paid links
- Buying links for ranking is link spam. Google's spam policies list exchanging money for links, or posts that contain links, as a violation.
- Paid links are fine when they're marked. The same policy says such links aren't a violation if they carry rel="nofollow" or rel="sponsored".
- rel="sponsored" is the label for ads. Google's guide to outbound links says to use it for advertisements and paid placements.
A seller who promises a "dofollow" link for money is selling the exact thing Google's policy describes. The risk lands on your site and on theirs. See rel="sponsored" vs nofollow.
What to buy instead: the readers
| A bought backlink | A labelled sponsorship | |
|---|---|---|
| What you pay for | A link Google may ignore or penalise | Being seen and recommended by real readers |
| What you can check | Usually a third-party 'authority' score | The page's traffic and the searches behind it |
| How you judge it | Rankings, months later, if at all | Visits and sign-ups from a tagged link, from day one |
| Risk | A manual action on your site | None: it's an ordinary, labelled ad |
How to buy a sponsorship that pays for itself
- Find pages your buyers readLook for pages that rank for the searches your customers make before they buy.
- Check the traffic is realNumbers read from Google Analytics or Search Console, not a screenshot. See how to check website traffic.
- Buy the recommendation, labelledA sponsored post inside the article, marked Sponsored, with a rel="sponsored" link.
- Tag the link and count the customersSee track a sponsorship's results with UTM tags.
| Real search | AdSworn's reading | Clicks, last 4 weeks |
|---|---|---|
| “best logo maker” | Buying intent | 14 |
| “mr best logo” | Buying intent | 6 |
| “best logo makers” | Buying intent | 4 |
| “best logo creator” | Buying intent | 4 |
| “mrbeast logo” | Research | 30 |
| “mr beast logo” | Research | 27 |
| “amazon logo” | Research | 14 |
On AdSworn every page shows its traffic read from Google and the searches behind it. Every link is labelled rel="sponsored", and we never sell or promise rankings. You pay for the readers, from $75 for a 12-week sponsored post.
Straight answers
Is buying backlinks against Google's rules?
Buying links for ranking purposes is link spam under Google's spam policies. Paid links are allowed when marked rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow".
What happens if Google finds paid links?
Google's policies treat them as link spam, which can lead to the links being ignored or to action against the sites involved.
What should I buy instead of backlinks?
The audience: a labelled sponsorship on a page your buyers read, judged on the visits and customers it sends.
Do sponsored posts help SEO?
Not through the link, which should be marked rel="sponsored". They help by putting you in front of people searching for what you sell, some of whom search for you by name later.