rust-lang / rust-lang/docs.rs

Should links generated by docs.rs have the `rel=nofollow` attribute?

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Rust
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Description

I notice that links, in the README, the docs themselves, and in sidebar and drop-down-menu areas, do not have the rel=nofollow attribute.

I can see docs.rs just accumulating the Google Juice, since there are probably going to be a lot of inbound links, the site is constantly getting new content that's mostly text, and the front page ensures that Google can't miss anything.

So what's to stop "crate authors" from using docs.rs for black-hat SEO? If we don't want links to be nofollow, might we instead want a Report button to let people flag spam?

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Research direction

Review how docs.rs generates links in README content, documentation pages, sidebars, and drop-down menus. Decide whether the project should use rel="nofollow" or provide spam reporting, then document the chosen policy and its expected behavior across those link locations.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Domain
documentation
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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