When someone sells you a link from a news site, they are selling you the name of a big portal. What you actually get is one specific section of that site, and Google treats that section separately. The gap between the two is the whole story.
A news site backlink is an inbound link placed in an article on a news site, usually a sponsored article labeled “בשיתוף” (“in partnership”). In Israel it sells for anywhere from ₪500 (ILS) for a single link to ₪3,150 for a package that includes 10 additional links. Google treats this kind of article as third-party content and measures the section it sits in separately from the main site.
- 11 out of 11 sponsored articles we checked on three Israeli news sites did not qualify the outbound commercial link with rel=”sponsored” or rel=”nofollow” (DigiAssets check, September 18, 2026)
- Since August 30, 2026, a manual action under Google’s site reputation policy directly affects results for searchers outside the European Economic Area, and Israel is outside that area (Google Search Central, August 28, 2026)
- ₪1,500 to ₪3,150 is the price range for news site link packages in our catalog, and ₪800 is the price of a regional local-paper package (live price list, September 2026)
“We sell links from news sites, and we also tell clients what they are buying: exposure in a section Google can measure separately from the main site. Anyone who sells you the authority of an entire portal based on a sponsored article is selling you something they don’t really control.”
Omri Kfir, Co-founder, DigiAssets
What is a news site backlink, and what does Google say about it?
A news site backlink is a link placed inside an article on a content portal or online newspaper, almost always in a sponsored article (advertorial) the business paid for. The relevant Google document is its spam policies, and the wording there is blunt: “advertorials or native advertising where payment is received for articles that include links that pass ranking credit” count as a link scheme.
But the same document also spells out the legitimate route: according to Google Search Central, it is not a violation as long as the links are qualified with rel=”nofollow” or rel=”sponsored”. In other words, Google does not ban sponsored content on news sites. It bans passing ranking credit through it without a label. That is the only difference that matters, and it lives in one line of code most buyers never check.
It’s important to separate two things sold under the same name. An editorial article a journalist wrote by choice is the result of PR. A PR article bought for money is an advertising product. In the Israeli market both are sold as a “news site link,” usually in a package that bundles ten more regular links from smaller sites with the single news link.
What did we find when we checked 11 sponsored articles on Israeli news sites?
On September 18, 2026 we checked 11 sponsored articles on three Israeli news sites that sell links (Arutz Sheva, The Pulse and Israel Hayom) to compare what happens in practice with what the policy says. We checked three things in each article: how it is labeled for readers, what its robots tag is, and which rel attribute sits on the commercial link in the body.
| Site | Sample and labeling | Robots tag | Commercial link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arutz Sheva | 4 articles, “בשיתוף” (“in partnership”) in the headline | index follow | In 3 of 4, no rel attribute at all |
| The Pulse | 4 articles under the promoted path | No tag | No commercial link found in the body |
| Israel Hayom | 3 articles, “בשיתוף” (“in partnership”) as the author name | index follow | No commercial link found in the body |
The main finding: none of the 11 articles qualified an outbound commercial link with sponsored or nofollow, and on Arutz Sheva the links were regular followed links on a page explicitly set to index, follow. An important caveat: this is a small sample, one section per site, and a snapshot of a single day. It does not replace a market survey, and the finding could change tomorrow.
Why is a news site link worth less than it looks?
The pitch you hear is that the link inherits the portal’s strength. Google has stated explicitly that this is not quite how it works. Its update to the site reputation abuse policy says it has systems designed to understand whether a section of a site is independent or clearly different from the main content, and that it treats such sections as if they were standalone sites.
In the same update Google also closed a loophole common in the Israeli market: “the article was written under editorial supervision.” According to the Google Search Central post from November 19, 2024, no amount of site owner involvement changes the underlying nature of the content as third-party content.
Google also announced in advance that this separate measurement may cause traffic changes as sections stop benefiting from site-level signals, and made clear that this is not a demotion or a violation, just independent measurement. For the link buyer the result is the same: the value you bought comes from the section, not from the logo at the top of the page. A common mistake: paying a premium for the main domain when what actually gets measured is the advertising section.
What changed in Google’s August 2026 update, and why does it hit Israeli sites in particular?
On August 28, 2026 Google announced a change in how it enforces this policy, following discussions with the European Commission. The change took effect on August 30, 2026 and splits the world in two: for searchers inside the European Economic Area (EEA), a manual action will not apply, and the offending section will simply be separated so it ranks on its own over time. For searchers outside the EEA, the manual action directly affects results for that part of the site.
Israel is not part of the European Economic Area. That means an Israeli site that sells or buys a sponsored section sits squarely on the stricter side of the line, according to the Google Search Central announcement. The Hebrew source Google itself cites today in its AI answer on this topic was published in May 2026, months before the update. Anyone relying on it is making decisions based on information that is no longer accurate.
What hasn’t changed: a site owner who gets a manual action receives a notice in their Search Console account and can submit a reconsideration request. If you’re vetting an Israeli vendor, you can ask them directly whether their sponsored section has ever received a manual action. A transparent vendor will answer.
How do you vet a news site before buying a link?
This check takes a few minutes and you can do it yourself before you pay anything. Open an existing sponsored article on the site you’re considering, one from another advertiser, and go through the list. A serious vendor will give you an example like this without arguing.
- The rel attribute on the link. Right-click the commercial link, choose Inspect, and look for rel. If there’s no attribute, the link is followed. The exact definition of each value is in Google’s documentation
- URL structure. Does the article sit in a subfolder or subdomain dedicated to sponsored content, or among the regular articles?
- Reader labeling. “בשיתוף” (“in partnership”), “תוכן שיווקי” (“marketing content”), “בחסות” (“sponsored by”). A label is a good sign of transparency, and it’s also what Google sees
- Indexing. Run a site: search in Google on the article URL. If it isn’t indexed, the link passes nothing
- Publishing volume in the section. Dozens of sponsored articles a day from the same section are a sign of a pattern Google already recognizes
- Anchor text. An exact-match anchor that repeats across a sponsored section is the most obvious pattern. In our analysis of 100 link building campaigns, it is also the biggest difference between a campaign that works and one that stalls
How much does a news site backlink cost in Israel, and when is it the right move?
In the DigiAssets catalog, as of September 2026, a news site link package with 10 supporting links ranges from ₪1,500 (ILS) for The Pulse to ₪3,150 for Maariv. A single link sells for between ₪500 on Arutz Sheva and ₪2,079 on Maariv. A regional local news package costs ₪800. Market prices change, so the binding number is the one listed in the news site link package catalog (in Hebrew) itself.
Local businesses have a cheaper option that almost nobody offers them: a regional local news package for ₪800, placed on a regional news site such as Mekomonet Ashdod or Ashkelon Net. Geographic relevance is higher there, and the price is three to four times lower than a national portal.
This move makes sense when the goal is clear: a brand mention in a recognized outlet, diversifying a link profile that leans too heavily on one source, or building presence ahead of a funding round or a sale. It makes less sense as the first step for a site that does not yet have content worth ranking. Want the exact price for each site? Israel Hayom package product page → (in Hebrew)
Can you get a news site backlink without paying?
Yes, and it happened to us. A senior content editor at Walla! Shivuk (Walla’s marketing section) subscribed to the DigiAssets newsletter, received a link building toolkit we published there, and offered on her own to publish a professional article of ours on their site. No money changed hands, and the link appeared inside a regular editorial article, not in a sponsored section.
What worked there was not cold outreach. The asset that attracted the link, a link building toolkit, already existed and was sent to an existing mailing list. In other words, what we paid for was the years it took to build a distribution channel, not the link.
This approach is slow and you can’t schedule it, and that is its weakness. You cannot promise a client a link from Walla next quarter, so it does not replace buying when there is a deadline. But it is the only approach that produces a link Google does not see as third-party content. The full Walla! Shivuk link case study lays out the steps, and the principle behind it is the same one described in our guide to content that earns links: the asset that attracts the link is built before the outreach, not after.
FAQ
Does Google prohibit buying links from news sites?
It is not prohibited, but it counts as a link scheme if the link passes ranking signals without being labeled. Under Google’s spam policies, a sponsored article with a link is fine as long as the link is qualified with a sponsored or nofollow attribute.
What is the difference between a news site backlink and a niche site backlink?
A niche site backlink comes from content closely related to your field, while a news site backlink comes from a broad environment with general authority. In practice, Google evaluates the section the link sits in, so a sponsored section on a large portal is not necessarily stronger than a relevant editorial section on a small site.
How much does a news site backlink cost in Israel?
As of September 2026, a single link on the news sites in our catalog ranges from ₪500 to ₪2,079, and a package with 10 supporting links ranges from ₪1,500 to ₪3,150. A regional local news package costs ₪800.
What is site reputation abuse?
It is a Google policy against publishing third-party pages on a host site to exploit that site’s ranking signals. Google updated it on November 19, 2024, and stated that no amount of first-party involvement changes the third-party nature of the content.
How do I know if the link I bought passes value?
Open the article, check the rel attribute on the link, and run a site: search to see whether the article is in Google’s index. A link with nofollow or sponsored, or an article that is not indexed, will not pass ranking signals.
Can a news site backlink hurt my site?
The direct risk falls on the host site, which may get a manual action on its sponsored section. Your risk is mostly financial: paying for an asset that stops passing value without warning, not a penalty on your own site.
What happened in Google’s August 2026 update?
Google changed how it enforces the policy so that, starting August 30, 2026, a manual action under the site reputation policy directly affects results only for searchers outside the European Economic Area. Israel is outside that area, so the impact here is full.
How many news site backlinks does an Israeli website need?
There is no right number, and anyone who quotes one without looking at your link profile is guessing. Our working rule in organic SEO is that a news site backlink is an addition to an existing profile, not its foundation, so it comes after you have content and diverse link sources. Any SEO agency that starts a project by building portal links before there is content is wasting your money.
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