What are guest post sites, and should ads run on them?
Part of MFA avoidance
The short answer
Guest post sites publish articles that outside parties pay to place, mainly to carry links for search ranking. Their archives drift across unrelated topics and paid pieces carry no clear label. They can pass ad density, traffic and seller checks, so buyers spot them by reading the articles, their outbound links and the site's own sales pages.
Key takeaways
- A guest post site sells article placements with links, and its content follows whoever pays rather than a readership.
- Google's spam policies name paid articles with links that pass ranking credit, including guest posts, as link spam unless the links are qualified with nofollow or sponsored.
- Search markup is not a reader disclosure: the FTC asks for clear and prominent labels in the US, and Canada's advertising code bars ads that conceal that they are ads.
- These sites can show low ad density, organic visits and authorized sellers, so standard MFA checks can miss them.
- A site with a real readership and a labeled sponsored section is a review case; a site whose archive is mostly undisclosed paid posts is an exclusion case.
What are guest post sites?
Guest posting is also an ordinary editorial practice: a publication invites an outside expert to write a column. A guest post site turns that into a product. It sells article slots, with one or more links to the buyer's website, at a listed price, and it accepts posts on almost any subject. The reader is not the customer; the customer is whoever wants a link from a page that search engines index.
Definition
- Guest post site
- A website whose main business is selling article placements that carry links for the buyer, so its topics follow paying contributors rather than a defined readership. A descriptive label, not a regulated category.
The distinction matters for ad buyers because guest post sites look like publishers. They have articles, bylines, categories and an archive. The difference sits in why the articles exist. The MFA avoidance hub covers sites built to resell ad impressions; guest post sites earn mainly from selling links, and display ads are a side income. That makes them a cousin of made-for-advertising sites, not a copy, and the review questions differ.
How do paid link sites look to an ad buyer?
The clearest evidence is on the site itself, in its own sales pages and in the articles' outbound links. A buyer reading three or four recent articles from different categories can see the pattern without special tools.
| Sign | Where to look | Ordinary explanation to rule out |
|---|---|---|
| A page offering posts for sale | Footer links such as write for us, advertise or contribute, with prices or link terms | A real publication's call for pitches with no link offer |
| Topics that jump between unrelated subjects | The latest articles across categories | A general interest magazine with a stated broad remit |
| Commercial links inside the body text | Links with keyword anchor text pointing to stores and service firms | Sourcing links to studies, agencies and the brands reviewed |
| Author bios that sell | The byline box under each article | A columnist's bio linking to their own practice |
| No label on the paid pieces | The article header and the first screen | Paid pieces labeled sponsored in a separate section |
Check the outbound links on one article
- Open the article and view the page source. Use the browser's view source option and search for the article's outbound links.
- Read the rel attribute on each commercial link. Note whether the link carries rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow", or neither.
- Compare the anchor text with the article. A link phrase that names a service unrelated to the article's subject points to a paid placement.
- Look for a label a reader would see. Check the headline area and first screen for a word such as sponsored or advertisement.
- Repeat on articles from two other categories. One paid post is a section question; the same pattern across categories describes the site.
What does search guidance say about paid links?
Google's spam policies for web search (opens in a new tab), updated August 28, 2026, define link spam as "the practice of creating links to or from a site primarily for the purpose of manipulating search rankings." Their examples include buying or selling links for ranking purposes and "Advertorials or native advertising where payment is received for articles that include links that pass ranking credit, or links with optimized anchor text in articles, guest posts, or press releases distributed on other sites."
Google does understand that buying and selling links is a normal part of the economy of the web for advertising and sponsorship purposes. It's not a violation of our policies to have such links as long as they are qualified with a rel="nofollow" or rel="sponsored" attribute value.
Google's guide to qualifying outbound links (opens in a new tab) asks sites to mark "links that are advertisements or paid placements" with the sponsored value, and says nofollow is also accepted for them, "though sponsored is preferred." That markup speaks to search engines. Readers do not see it, which is where advertising rules come in.
| Rule | Who issues it | What it covers | What it does not settle |
|---|---|---|---|
| Link spam policy | Google Search | Paid links that pass ranking credit, including in guest posts | Whether a reader can tell the article is paid |
| Qualifying outbound links | Google Search | The rel markup paid links should carry | Any visible label |
| Native advertising guide | US Federal Trade Commission | Ads formatted like editorial content, and their disclosures | Search ranking |
| Canadian Code of Advertising Standards, clause 2 | Ad Standards, industry self regulation | Ads presented in a format that conceals they are ads | It is a self regulatory code, not a statute |
The FTC's native advertising guide (opens in a new tab) of December 2015 says that when a disclosure is needed to prevent deception it must be clear and prominent, and lists terms such as Ad, Advertisement and Paid Advertisement as likely to be understood. In Canada, clause 2 of the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards (opens in a new tab) states: "No advertisement shall be presented in a format or style that conceals the fact that it is an advertisement."
Why do guest post sites pass basic quality checks?
MFA checks look for the traits the trade groups listed in the 2023 definition (opens in a new tab): high ad to content ratios, rapid refresh, paid traffic, generic content and templated design. The ANA's description says MFA publishers "often have little-to-no organic audience" and that buying paid traffic is "the primary cost driver." A guest post site can look like the opposite. It needs search visibility to sell links, so it may have organic visitors, and its display ads can be light because ads are not its main income.
Seller checks do not catch it either. The ads.txt specification (opens in a new tab) exists to let content owners "declare who is authorized to sell their inventory," as part of an effort against counterfeit inventory. A link seller can run a correct ads.txt file. Keyword lists also stay quiet, since a paid article about home loans or travel insurance contains nothing unsafe. Our guide to viewability and site quality explains why clean delivery metrics say little about editorial purpose.
Should guest post sites be excluded?
Exclude on evidence about the whole site, not on the presence of guest authors. Some respected publications run outside columns, and some run labeled sponsored sections. A hosted section on an otherwise strong domain is a separate case, covered in our guide to site reputation abuse. The test here is whether paid placements make up the site's output and whether readers can tell.
| Outcome | What the review found | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Keep | Guest pieces are on topic, written by named experts, with sourcing links and no sales page offering links | Approve with a note on the guest policy |
| Review | A real readership and a labeled sponsored section, with some paid links lacking rel markup | Hold for a second reader; approve the editorial sections if the paid ones are separable |
| Exclude | A sales page offering posts with links, unrelated topics across categories, and paid articles without labels | Add to the exclusion list with the sales page and sample URLs as evidence |
Evidence to record before excluding a guest post site
- The URL of the page that offers posts or links for sale, with a screenshot and date.
- Three or more article URLs from different categories showing unrelated commercial links.
- The rel attribute found on those links.
- Whether a reader facing label appeared on the paid pieces.
- The reviewer's name and the date of the review.
What does a guest post review look like on a real brief?
Fictional example
A Honolulu travel agency's display plan
A fictional Honolulu travel agency that sells trips from Hawaii to Japan and the West Coast asks for an English display plan in Oahu and Maui, beside travel guides, airline news and food culture stories. Keyword research returns a long list of travel blogs.
One travel tips site looks strong on layout: few ads, no refresh, a correct ads.txt file. Its footer links to a write for us page with link terms, and its recent articles cover packing lists, a home loan comparison and a casino bonus guide, each with keyword links to unrelated firms and no sponsored label. The planner excludes it with the evidence recorded.
A Honolulu food magazine runs a labeled partner content section beside staff reporting. Its editorial sections stay on the plan and the partner section is excluded by path. A Maui travel writer's blog with guest columns from named local guides, linked only to sources, is approved with a note.
How does PlacementGraph judge a site by its articles?
Frequently asked questions
Is accepting guest posts a sign of a made-for-advertising site?
Not by itself. Guest columns are an ordinary editorial practice. The concern is a site whose output is mainly paid placements with commercial links. Even then it may not fit the trade groups' MFA definition, which centers on buying traffic to resell ad impressions, so record it as a paid link site rather than forcing the MFA label.
Does rel sponsored make a paid article acceptable for advertising?
It settles the search question, not the advertising one. Google treats qualified paid links as allowed, but the markup is invisible to readers. A buyer still asks whether the article is labeled for readers and whether the site's output is mostly paid placements before approving it.
Are press release distribution sites the same as guest post sites?
They overlap. Google's link spam examples name links with optimized anchor text in press releases distributed on other sites alongside guest posts. A site that republishes wire releases with no reporting of its own offers advertisers the same problem: content that exists for the sender, not a readership.
How can a buyer find out whether a site sells links?
Start with the site's own pages: write for us, advertise, contribute and media kit pages state what is for sale. Then check outbound links in recent articles for commercial anchor text and missing rel markup. Record what the pages say on the date checked, since sales pages change.
Sources
- Spam policies for Google web search (opens in a new tab)Google Search Central, updated August 28, 2026
- Qualify your outbound links to Google (opens in a new tab)Google Search Central, updated December 10, 2025
- Native Advertising: A Guide for Businesses (opens in a new tab)US Federal Trade Commission, December 2015
- The Canadian Code of Advertising Standards (online) (opens in a new tab)Ad Standards
- Leading Trade Groups Define “Made For Advertising” Websites (opens in a new tab)ANA (Association of National Advertisers), September 26, 2023
- ads.txt specification version 1.1 (opens in a new tab)IAB Tech Lab
Researched and written by PlacementGraph Research. Read how we research, source and update these pages. Corrections: diana@placementgraph.com.