rel="noopener" (often paired with noreferrer) to links that open in a new tab with target="_blank". It is a security and privacy control, not an SEO directive. It prevents the destination page from hijacking your tab and isolates it for performance. It has zero effect on link equity or rankings. If you want to control how search engines treat a link, that is the job of nofollow, sponsored, and ugc, which are entirely separate values.What rel=noopener and rel=noreferrer do
When a link opens in a new browsing context with target="_blank", the page it opens can, by default in older behavior, reach back to the page that opened it through the JavaScript window.opener property. That reference lets the destination page redirect or rewrite the original tab while you are looking away. This is the reverse tabnabbing attack: you click a link, read the new tab, and the tab you came from has quietly been replaced with a convincing phishing copy of a login screen.
rel="noopener" closes that door. It sets window.opener to null in the new tab, so the destination has no programmatic handle on your page. As a side benefit, it gives the browser permission to run the new document in a separate process, so a heavy or misbehaving destination page does not stall the tab it was launched from.
rel="noreferrer" does everything noopener does, and also strips the Referer header so the destination site cannot see which of your URLs sent the visitor. Use noreferrer when you also want to withhold referral data; use noopener alone when you are happy to pass the referrer but still want the security isolation.
The SEO angle: no link equity impact
This is the point most often misunderstood, so it deserves a flat statement: rel=noopener and rel=noreferrer have no negative SEO effect. They do not reduce, block, or alter the link equity (PageRank-style value) that flows through a link. A normal outbound link with rel="noopener" passes value exactly the same way as a link without it. Search engines treat noopener and noreferrer as browser-level instructions about security and privacy, not as crawling or ranking directives.
Modern browsers now apply noopener behavior automatically for any target="_blank" link, even when the attribute is absent. That default has been standard across current browsers for years. So why add it explicitly? Because explicit is still good practice: it documents intent for the next developer, it protects users on the occasional older or embedded browser that may not enforce the default, and it survives copy-paste into contexts where the default cannot be assumed. The cost is one short attribute, and the benefit is removing all doubt.
If your goal is to influence how search engines interpret a link, none of this applies. For that you reach for a different set of rel values, covered next.
rel=noopener vs nofollow, sponsored, and ugc
These two families of rel values are frequently confused because they share the same attribute. They serve completely different audiences: one speaks to the browser, the other to search crawlers.
- noopener: browser security. Cuts the
window.openerlink. No SEO meaning. - noreferrer: browser privacy and security. Cuts
window.openerand strips the referrer. No SEO meaning. - nofollow: crawler hint. Tells search engines you do not vouch for the link and generally do not want to pass ranking signals through it. No browser effect.
- sponsored: crawler hint. Marks paid or advertising links. No browser effect.
- ugc: crawler hint. Marks user-generated content links such as comments and forum posts. No browser effect.
Because they are independent, you can and often should combine them. A paid review link that opens in a new tab would carry rel="sponsored noopener". The two values do not interfere with each other. For deeper context on how the SEO-relevant values shape link signals, see our guides on anchor text best practices and link building fundamentals.
How to implement it
Apply noopener (or noreferrer) to any link that uses target="_blank". You do not need it on links that open in the same tab, because there is no new browsing context to isolate.
<!-- Security isolation, referrer still sent -->
<a href="https://example.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">External resource</a>
<!-- Isolation plus referrer withheld -->
<a href="https://example.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">Private external link</a>
<!-- A paid link in a new tab: SEO + security together -->
<a href="https://partner.com" target="_blank" rel="sponsored noopener">Sponsored offer</a>Most content management systems and editors now add noopener automatically when you set a link to open in a new tab, so audit a few links in your published HTML rather than assuming. If you maintain templates or hand-coded pages, make the attribute part of your standard link pattern.
Common confusion to avoid
Do not add nofollow to an outbound link just because you added noopener. They solve unrelated problems, and stripping follow signals from links you genuinely endorse only weakens the helpful associations search engines draw from your outbound links. Decide on the SEO value (follow, nofollow, sponsored, or ugc) based on the relationship, and decide on noopener based on whether the link opens a new tab. The two decisions are independent.
FAQ
Does rel=noopener hurt my rankings or block link juice?
No. It is a browser security attribute with no crawling or ranking meaning. Link equity flows through a noopener link exactly as it would without it.
If browsers apply noopener by default now, why write it out?
For clarity, documentation, and resilience. It signals intent to other developers and protects users on browsers or embedded contexts that may not enforce the default. The cost is negligible.
Should I use noopener or noreferrer?
Use noopener for security alone while still passing the referrer. Use noreferrer when you also want to hide which page sent the visitor; it includes the noopener protection.
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Claude Vincent is a technical SEO consultant focused on crawlability, rendering, and AI-search visibility. He writes the field guides and case studies at SEO ProCheck, with a bias toward the durable, unglamorous work that decides whether search engines and AI answer engines can actually read and cite a site.
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Technical SEO consulting and GEO strategy with 20 years of enterprise experience. Case studies, resources, and tools for search and AI visibility.
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