Links and search engines
Every link is qualified for search engines. LinkShare is built for discovery and referral visits; rankings and sales are not guaranteed.
Why every link is qualified
Every link the LinkShare box emits carries rel="nofollow noopener". Where a business is included in exchange for compensation, the link also carries sponsored. This applies to member links, to the NOSA attribution link and to any explore link.
There is no opt-out. A host cannot loosen these attributes, and the widget script refuses to render a link without them. The attributes are hints that Google documents for links placed in widgets and for paid or promotional placements; search engines decide how to treat them.
The purpose is referral visits
LinkShare is built so that a shopper reading one member site can find independent businesses in other selling categories. The links are designed for discovery and referral visits, not to transfer ranking credit. Rankings and sales are not guaranteed, and LinkShare makes no promise about how any search engine will treat your site.
What is not promised
- No ranking, traffic or sales result for the host or for the businesses shown.
- No assurance about how a search engine will evaluate a page that hosts the box. Qualified links are the approach Google describes for widget links; it is not a guarantee against any action a search engine may take.
- No count of visits or referrals before the service is measured in a real pilot.
Google guidance
These are Google documents on qualifying links. Read them directly rather than relying on our summary.
Example markup
Illustrative example only. The business name and address are fictional, and real widget output may differ in structure.
<a href="https://shop.example/"
rel="nofollow noopener"
target="_blank">Example Shop (fictional)</a>
<!-- Where inclusion is compensated -->
<a href="https://shop.example/"
rel="nofollow sponsored noopener"
target="_blank">Example Shop (fictional)</a>