The FTC's influencer disclosure rules come down to one test: if you have a connection to a brand that your audience would not expect, such as being paid, getting free or discounted products, earning an affiliate commission, or a family or business tie, you have to say so in plain words, inside the post or video itself, where people cannot miss it. Those expectations come from the FTC's Endorsement Guides, and a separate rule on reviews and testimonials adds civil penalties for fake testimonials and bought followers. This guide covers what to disclose, the wording FTC staff accept, where the disclosure goes in each format, and a checklist to run before you publish.
Which FTC documents set the rules
Three documents matter, and they carry different weight. The Endorsement Guides, published as 16 CFR Part 255, are the Commission's reading of Section 5 of the FTC Act as it applies to endorsements and testimonials. The Guides describe themselves as the basis for voluntary compliance and warn that practices inconsistent with them may lead to corrective action. Their 2023 revision added a definition of “clear and conspicuous” which says that on social media or the internet a disclosure should be unavoidable.
The two documents most creators actually read are staff guidance rather than the Guides themselves: the brochure Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers and a much longer question-and-answer page, The FTC's Endorsement Guides: What People Are Asking. The brochure is dated November 2019, before the revision, while the Q&A carries a June 2023 date and points readers to the revised Guides, so lean on the newer two where they say more. Staff guidance does not bind the Commission, but it is the plainest statement of what FTC staff look for.
Living outside the US does not switch the rules off. The Q&A answers a London-based video creator directly: if it is reasonably foreseeable that the videos will be seen by and affect US consumers, US law applies and a disclosure is needed.
When you have to disclose: the material connection test
Section 255.5 of the Guides requires a disclosure when a connection between you and the seller might materially affect how much weight people give your endorsement, and the audience would not reasonably expect it. The Guides name business, family and personal relationships; payment; free or discounted products, including products unrelated to the one you mention and whether or not the brand demanded a post; and other benefits such as early access or the chance of being paid, winning a prize or appearing in a promotion. A disclosure is needed when a significant minority of your audience would not understand or expect the connection. You do not have to state your fee, but you do have to make the nature of the relationship clear.
It helps to know what counts as an endorsement in the first place. The Q&A says tagging a brand is an endorsement, and the Guides describe a paid live streamer whose visible enjoyment of a game works as an implied recommendation even though nothing is said about it. Showing a product can be enough.
| Your situation | Disclose? | What FTC guidance says |
|---|---|---|
| Paid to post, in cash or commission | Yes | Payment is the plainest material connection listed in section 255.5. |
| Sent a free product with no obligation to post | Yes, whenever you mention the brand | Disclosures 101 says to disclose even if you were not asked to mention that particular product. |
| Lent a product that goes back after the review | Usually | The Q&A recommends disclosing free use of a loaned car even though it is returned, and openness for cheaper loans too. |
| A personalised discount code that earns you money | Yes, beyond the code itself | A code may signal a relationship without signalling payment, so the Q&A advises erring towards a clearer disclosure. |
| Promoting a brand you own | Only if that is not obvious | If viewers could not tell the brand is yours, the Q&A says to tell them. |
| Praising your employer's products | Yes | People reading in a feed may not know where you work, even if your profile says so. |
| A hosted trip, event ticket or hotel stay | Yes, naming who paid | The Q&A suggests wording like “XYZ Resort paid for my trip” and rejects #comped and #hosted. |
| A long contract with many earlier disclosures | Yes, in every new post | Each undisclosed endorsement could deceive viewers who never saw your earlier posts. |
Wording that works, and wording that fails
The FTC does not prescribe exact words. Its Q&A says the best disclosures are simple, such as “This is an ad for BRAND” or “BRAND paid me to tell you about it”, and that opening a post with “Ad:”, “#ad” or “Advertisement” would likely be effective. It treats “#ad”, “Ad:” and plain “ad” at the start of a post as roughly equal, and confirms that #ad covers a free product as well as a paid post.
Labels FTC staff describe as likely to work
- Ad, Advertisement or Paid ad placed at the very start of the post.
- “Sponsored by [brand]”, which the Q&A calls clearer than a bare “Sponsored”, or “Paid post for [brand]” spelled out rather than run together.
- “Thanks [brand] for the free product”, but only if the product was everything you received.
- “Gifted by [brand]” when a free product is the whole relationship.
- [Brand]Partner or [Brand]_Ambassador on platforms where every character counts.
- “I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post”, or “Paid link” placed right beside an affiliate link.
Labels the FTC says confuse people
- Abbreviations such as sp, spon and collab.
- A stand-alone thanks, ambassador or partner with no brand attached.
- Gifted on its own, because nobody can tell who did the gifting.
- #endorsement, #client, #advisor or #consultant.
- #comped, #hosted or #freeproduct, which do not say who gave you what.
- “Affiliate link”, “commissionable link” or a bare Buy now button.
- A brand name fused with “ad” in one long hashtag that readers skim past.
- Tagging the brand and saying nothing else.
Two smaller rules catch people out. Disclose in the language of the endorsement, so a Spanish-language video needs a Spanish disclosure. And if you were paid as well as sent the product, saying only that the product was free understates the deal.
Where the disclosure goes, format by format
Placement fails more often than wording. The Guides say an endorsement made visually needs at least a visual disclosure, a spoken one needs at least an audible disclosure, and a video that does both is best served by both at the same moment. In any social or web format the disclosure should be unavoidable, which rules out anything people have to click, expand or scroll to find.
| Format | Where to put it | What FTC staff say falls short |
|---|---|---|
| Feed photo or carousel | The first lines of the caption, above the More cut-off, plus text on the image when the picture itself does the endorsing | A label people reach only after tapping More, one lost in a block of hashtags, or one left in the comments |
| Stories and Snaps | Superimposed on each frame, large and high-contrast, on a solid band if the image is busy, and on screen long enough to read | Small text over a cluttered picture, or a spoken mention that muted viewers never hear |
| TikTok, Reels and Shorts | Large on-screen text, and said out loud when the endorsement is spoken | The text description alone, which the Q&A calls very unlikely to be clear and conspicuous |
| Long YouTube video | In the video at the start, or right before a mid-video endorsement, repeated if you can, and also in the description | Only at the end, only in the description, covered by ads, or skipped by a shared link that starts after it |
| Livestream | Repeated at intervals, ideally a label that stays on screen throughout, plus a line in the stream description | A single mention at the start that anyone joining later misses |
| Podcast | Introduce the read as sponsored; the Guides accept that an obviously commercial host-read ad may need no payment disclosure, but any opinion you voice must be one you hold | Treating the podcast read as cover for a separate social post about the same product |
| Affiliate links in descriptions or link-in-bio pages | Beside the links and inside the content that recommends the product | A note far away from the links, or the words affiliate link with nothing else |
| X and other short-text posts | Ad: or Paid ad as the opening words | A tag tucked at the end of a long post among other hashtags |
| Blog or written review | Next to, or part of, the recommendation itself | Only above the article, only at the bottom, or behind a DISCLOSURE button |
| Bio or profile page | Nowhere useful on its own: disclose in each post | The Guides use a profile-only disclosure as their example of one people easily miss |
Why the platform's paid-partnership toggle may not be enough
Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and others offer built-in branded content labels, and FTC staff say they do not want to discourage you from using them, only from stopping there. The Guides in Part 255 include an example of an influencer who relied only on a platform's built-in tool: the label showed in small white text on a light image, competed with other text and appeared for only five seconds, so it was easy to miss and not clear and conspicuous.
The Q&A lists three factors the FTC would weigh for any social disclosure, toggle or not. Placement, judged by how people actually browse that platform. Readability, meaning a simple font on a contrasting background. Clarity, so a vague “contains paid content” note may fail when several products appear and nobody can tell which is paid. It adds that the final responsibility sits with the influencer and the brand, not the platform, and that it is always best to add your own disclosure. For the settings themselves, see our guides to the Instagram paid partnership label and TikTok's content disclosure setting.
Honest endorsements and the fake-review rule
A perfect label does not rescue a dishonest post. Under section 255.1 of the Guides, an endorser can be liable for statements they know or should know are deceptive, including falsely claiming to have used a product, and a non-expert can be liable for performance claims that go beyond their own experience. Disclosures 101 puts it bluntly: do not describe your experience with something you have not tried, do not call a product terrific if you found it terrible, and do not make claims that would need proof the advertiser does not have, such as proof that a product treats a health condition.
The Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials raised the stakes. The FTC's questions and answers on the rule say it took effect on October 21, 2024 and lets courts impose civil penalties for knowing violations. It bans fake or false testimonials, including ones that misstate whether the person used the product or what happened when they did, and the FTC says influencers in the business of posting testimonials are selling celebrity testimonials and could be liable if they lie about using a product or about their experience of it. The rule also bans buying or selling fake indicators of social media influence, such as bot followers or views, where the buyer knew or should have known they were fake and uses them to misstate their influence for a commercial purpose.
That last ban reaches the numbers you show brands as well as your posts. Our influencer media kit template shows how to source every figure from platform analytics instead. When a brand hands you a script, check that it matches your real experience: the same Q&A says a business should not supply testimonial text without a reasonable basis to believe it is true of the person saying it. Synthetic personas raise further questions, covered in our AI influencer disclosure guide.
Pre-post disclosure checklist
- List every connection to the brand: payment, product, commission, loan, travel, family, employment or a stake in the company.
- Ask whether a significant minority of your audience could miss that connection; if you are unsure, disclose.
- Choose plain words that name the relationship and, where it helps, the brand.
- Put the disclosure where the endorsement happens: on screen and spoken in video, above the More cut-off in captions, superimposed on Stories.
- Repeat it during livestreams and long videos, and add it to every post in a sponsored series.
- Switch on the platform's branded content label as well as your own wording, never instead of it.
- Put affiliate disclosures beside the links and in the content that recommends the product.
- Check each claim against your own experience and against the evidence the brand has supplied.
- Delete any scripted line saying you bought, used or loved something when you did not.
- Save the contract, the brief and a capture of the live post in case the brand or a regulator asks how you disclosed.
If your audience is not only in the US
UK and Australian guidance overlaps heavily with the FTC's but is stricter in places: the UK advertising regulator advises against “sponsored” as a label, and the practice note to the Australian industry code says “gifted” may not be enough. If you reach those audiences, read our guides to ASA influencer rules in the UK and influencer disclosure rules in Australia, and write to the strictest market you reach. A plain “Ad” at the start, plus the brand name, travels best.
Limitations of this guide
This page summarises US federal guidance as the linked FTC and eCFR pages read when we checked them; it is general information, not legal advice. The Guides interpret the law rather than replace it, and state laws, platform policies and your contracts can add duties of their own. Health claims, financial products, alcohol and anything aimed at children need more than a label, and the Q&A warns that disclosures that work for adults may not work for children. If a deal touches those categories, involves large sums or transfers ownership of your content, have a lawyer review it before you post.