FTC affiliate disclosure rules every creator should know.

Affiliate disclosure is the least interesting part of making a living from affiliate links, and also the part that can bite hardest. The US Federal Trade Commission enforces disclosure rules aggressively when creators cross their radar, and the penalties for non-disclosure range from warning letters to five-figure fines.

This isn't legal advice. Consult a lawyer for your specific situation. But here's what the rules actually require in practice, where creators commonly get it wrong, and how to structure disclosure across platforms without killing your conversion rate.

What the FTC actually requires

The FTC's Endorsement Guides (16 CFR Part 255) require that any "material connection" between an endorser and the product being endorsed be disclosed. Affiliate commission is a material connection. So is being sent a free product for review, or a paid sponsorship.

The disclosure must be, in the FTC's phrasing, "clear and conspicuous". Meaning an ordinary reader can't miss it, doesn't have to search for it, and understands what it says in plain language.

Where the disclosure must appear

Before the link, not after

A disclosure buried at the end of a blog post, below the comments section, or in a site-wide footer doesn't meet the "clear and conspicuous" bar. The disclosure must be near the affiliate link. Ideally immediately before the reader encounters it.

Visible without a click

If a reader has to click "show more" or "read more" to see the disclosure, the FTC considers it hidden. On YouTube, that means the disclosure must be in the first ~3 lines of the description. The part visible before "Show more" on mobile. See YouTube description affiliate links: the complete guide for the layout.

What words work

Approved phrasings, from safest to most casual:

• "This post contains affiliate links. If you buy through them I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you."
• "Affiliate link. I may earn a commission."
• "[ad]" or "[sponsored]". Acceptable on social media when the rest of the context makes the commercial relationship clear.
• "#affiliate". Acceptable when combined with clear context.

What doesn't work

• "#ad" alone buried in a wall of hashtags. FTC has flagged this pattern specifically.
• "Thanks to [Brand] for sponsoring this video". Ambiguous; doesn't make the affiliate relationship clear.
• "SP" or "spon". Not plain language. A new reader can't decode it.
• Disclosure at the bottom of a blog post when affiliate links are at the top.

Platform-specific considerations

YouTube

Disclosure must appear in the first ~3 lines of the description. Verbal disclosure in the video is a good additional signal, especially since many viewers don't read descriptions at all. YouTube's own built-in "paid promotion" toggle is for sponsored content and doesn't replace affiliate disclosure.

Instagram

For Reels and posts with captions, disclosure in the first line of the caption (before the "more" truncation) is the safest placement. For Stories, on-screen text or a voiceover note works. "Link sticker. Affiliate" is a common clean format.

TikTok

TikTok's paid promotion toggle is available but doesn't cover affiliate. Best practice: verbal disclosure in the video ("this video has affiliate links") + text disclosure in the caption. TikTok captions are short. Make every character count.

Newsletters

Disclosure should appear above the first affiliate link in each issue, not just once per year in a "standards" page. One clean sentence: "Some of the links in this issue are affiliate links. I earn a small commission at no cost to you."

Blog posts

Disclosure at the top of the post, before the first affiliate link, is standard and safe. A site-wide disclosure page is supplementary, not a substitute.

EU and UK differences

EU creators face similar requirements under the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive and the Digital Services Act. Disclosure must be transparent and upfront. UK creators answer to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which publishes similar guidelines and tends to enforce via public rulings that become case law. In both regions the practical rules look like the FTC's: clear language, above the link, visible without a click.

Common creator mistakes

• Using "#ad" in a hashtag chain at the bottom of a caption.
• Putting the disclosure in a site-wide footer instead of near the link.
• Assuming "everyone knows what affiliate links are" is enough context.
• Forgetting to disclose on YouTube Shorts or Instagram Reels. The short-form formats have the same rules as the long-form ones.
• Evergreen content without evergreen disclosure. A blog post from 2022 needs its disclosure to still be working today.

Disclosure is separate from link monitoring, but both fall under the same umbrella of "treat your affiliate links as infrastructure, not afterthoughts." See the audit checklist for periodic link hygiene.