Google Says Links In Commented Out HTML Do Not Impact Ranking

Oct 21, 2020 - 8:37 am 0 by

Google Commented Out Code

Martin Splitt of Google, in a rare case about talking specifically about Google rankings, said that he has confirmed that while Google can discover links within commented out HTML code, those links do not get used for ranking purposes in Google.

Here what Martin said on Twitter "so, after a bit of digging and pending a bit of testing (I'm fairly convinced on the results, but better safe than sorry) I think we're discovering (!) links inside comments but don't pass 'em on to ranking. So it's working-as-intended there."

This comes after Jamie Alberico asked about it:

Some folks questioned his original response so he promised to look into it:

And then he said, nope, links in commented out HTML does not pass any ranking weight.

To be clear, HTML comments are not like blog comments, it is when coders mark up their code to add comments about why they coded something. It is like a way to keep notes and reminders about why code was done a specific way. HTML comments are not displayed in the browser, but they can help document your HTML source code.

They can show up in the HTML as but they do not show on the web site.

Forum discussion at Twitter.

Update: One more form example:

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Search Video Recaps

 
- YouTube
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: September 15, 2025

Sep 15, 2025 - 10:00 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Google Search Console Reporting Change Since 100 Results Broke

Sep 15, 2025 - 7:51 am
Bing Search

Bing Places Update Coming Soon: Navigation, Experience & More

Sep 15, 2025 - 7:41 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

PSA: Most Third Party Google Search Tracking Tools Are Broken

Sep 15, 2025 - 7:31 am
Search Engine Optimization

Structured Data Does Not Help With Visibility In AI Search

Sep 15, 2025 - 7:21 am
Google News

FTC Investigating Google Over Ad Pricing & Terms On Websites

Sep 15, 2025 - 7:11 am
 
Previous Story: Google Search Augmented Reality For Car Manufacturers