If you sell listings or link placements, Google asks that those links be labeled — plain followed links that are visibly sold can get a site's outbound links devalued, or worse. The safe label for paid placements is rel="sponsored", and every listing now has a toggle for it.
You'll find Sponsored Website URL on the listing edit form, right next to No Follow — and as an inline column in Manage → Listings (enable it via the column picker to flip listings in bulk). The two flags combine however you like: sponsored alone, nofollow alone, or both together.
The label is applied everywhere the nofollow flag already was, so there are no gaps: the Visit Website button, the mobile floating button, link-type custom fields, and external links inside the listing's content text.
Two extras for directories built around paid placements:
- Settings → SEO → Default Sponsored — new listings start with sponsored links; clear it on the ones that don't pay.
- The CSV import/export and the API both carry the new
is_sponsored field.
A good setup if you sell a dofollow upgrade: keep free listings on nofollow, and give paying listings rel="sponsored" — a real, visible upgrade that keeps your directory's link profile clean with Google.