Media types

User-generated content

UGC

Definition

User-generated content is material customers or fans make: reviews, photos, unboxing clips, forum posts. It is earned when nobody paid for that specific piece. It becomes owned when you republish it (with permission). It becomes paid when a brief and a fee sit behind it.

rel="ugc" is the link hint Google wants on comment and forum hrefs. That is a crawl note, not a brand strategy.

How it works

Ask before you reuse a customer photo in an ad. Keep reviews you do not like if you display reviews at all — the FTC’s fake-review rule is not theoretical. For SEO, UGC pages need moderation so they do not become spam farms.

Worked example

A climber posts a gear fail on YouTube. You ask to quote two lines in the newsroom with credit and no payment. That clip is earned; the newsroom excerpt is owned. A later paid duet is paid.

How it differs

Shared media is the circulation. UGC is a format that often lives there. Influencer posts with contracts are not UGC just because a person “generated” them.

Common errors

Cropping out a defect in a “real customer” ad. Buying reviews. nofollow-stripping comment spam and calling it a community.

Sources