Definition
Paid reviews are a grey hat technique where a business compensates bloggers, testers, or influencers to publish a review of a product or service, with the primary goal of obtaining one or more backlinks. This practice sits at the intersection of influencer marketing and link building. Google requires that any link obtained in exchange for compensation (money, free product, service) be marked with the rel=sponsored or rel=nofollow attribute. Paid reviews become problematic when they are not disclosed as sponsored, when links are dofollow, or when reviews are artificially positive without real product experience. Risks include Google penalties for link schemes, credibility loss if readers detect the paid nature, and legal implications related to advertising regulations. The recommended alternative is sending products for testing without requiring a link in return, letting the blogger freely decide on their review and link type.
Key Points
- Google requires rel=sponsored or rel=nofollow on any link obtained in exchange for payment
- French regulation (Influence Law 2023) requires disclosure of the commercial nature of paid reviews
- Coordinated campaigns with identical links are easily detectable by algorithms
- Sending products without link requirements remains the safest and often most effective method
Practical Examples
Paid review with dofollow link
A cosmetics brand pays 150 euros to a beauty blogger to test and review an anti-aging serum. The agreement includes a dofollow link to the product page, without mentioning the commercial partnership.
Product sent for review
A gaming peripheral manufacturer sends a free mechanical keyboard to a tech YouTuber-blogger. The blogger publishes an honest test with a nofollow link, clearly marking the product as gifted.
Coordinated review campaign
A SaaS launches a campaign with 30 marketing bloggers using a pre-written review script and imposed link anchors. This type of coordinated campaign is easily detectable by Google.
Frequently Asked Questions
Paid reviews can generate referral traffic and awareness, but their direct SEO impact is limited if links are properly marked as nofollow/sponsored. Paid reviews with undisclosed dofollow links are risky and contrary to Google's guidelines.
A paid review specifically covers the experience of using a product or service, while a sponsored article can cover any topic with an integrated commercial link. Both require transparency disclosure and nofollow/sponsored links.
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Last updated: 2026-02-07