# Sponsored content disclosure rules: FTC, UK, and EU

Source: https://sponsoracreator.com/guides/sponsored-content-disclosure-rules/
Publisher: Sponsor a Creator. Updated 2026-10-20.
Independence: Independent and unsponsored. No company pays to be mentioned, ranked, or reviewed here, and there are no affiliate links. Fact-checked against the primary sources listed below.

> Sponsored content must carry a clear label that viewers see before they engage with it. In the US, the FTC's Endorsement Guides require disclosure of any material connection, including free products and affiliate commissions, and brands share the liability. The UK's ASA and CMA expect an upfront 'Ad' label. EU law bans paid content that hides its commercial intent.

This guide explains the rules for brands. It is not legal advice, so have a lawyer review your disclosure policy and creator contracts.

Every sponsored post needs a label a normal viewer will notice and understand, and the brand shares the blame when it is missing. The details change by country. The core rule does not: tell people it is an ad before they engage with it.

## What do US rules require for sponsored content?

US rules require a clear and conspicuous disclosure whenever a creator has a connection to the brand that the audience would not expect. The FTC sets this out in its Endorsement Guides, published at 16 CFR Part 255 and revised in 2023. The Guides explain how the FTC applies Section 5 of the FTC Act, which bans deceptive practices.

The Guides call this a material connection. Section 255.5 says it can include a business, family, or personal relationship, payment, free or discounted products, early access, or the chance to win a prize. A connection must be disclosed when a significant minority of the audience would not understand or expect it.

"Clear and conspicuous" has a set meaning in the Guides: difficult to miss and easily understandable by ordinary consumers. A visual endorsement needs at least a visual disclosure. A spoken one needs at least a spoken disclosure. On social media, the disclosure should be unavoidable.

The FTC's plain-language version for creators is [Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers](https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/disclosures-101-social-media-influencers). Send it to every creator you hire.

## Is the brand liable if a creator does not disclose?

Yes. The Endorsement Guides say advertisers are subject to liability for failing to disclose material connections with their endorsers, and that an advertiser can be liable even when the endorser is not.

The Guides tell advertisers to give endorsers guidance on disclosure and truthful claims, to monitor compliance, and to act on problems. The FTC calls that effort no safe harbor, but says it should lower the odds of an enforcement action.

The FTC's Q&A on the Guides is blunt: "Your company is ultimately responsible for what others do on your behalf." It also says the activity of one rogue influencer is unlikely to lead to an enforcement action if the company has a reasonable training, monitoring, and compliance program. The program is your protection.

So write the disclosure rules into the brief and the contract, check every post after it goes live, and keep a record of every fix you ask for. Our [contract guide](/guides/creator-sponsorship-contract/) has a disclosure clause you can adapt.

## Where should "#ad" or "Sponsored" go?

The disclosure should go at the start of the post, in the content itself, where a viewer sees it before tapping anything. The FTC's Q&A says a disclosure in the middle or at the end of a post is easier to miss.

The FTC's placement rules:

- Put it in the opening lines of the caption, visible without tapping "more." The Guides use a disclosure hidden behind a "more" link as an example that fails.
- Keep it out of a cluster of hashtags or links.
- Never rely on the profile bio. The Guides say a disclosure only on profile pages is easy to miss.
- In video, say it and show it in the video itself, not only in the description. The Q&A notes viewers are more likely to miss a disclosure at the end.
- On a livestream, repeat it so people who join late still hear it.
- On images such as Stories, place it over the image long enough to read.

Wording matters as much as position. "Ad," "advertisement," and "sponsored" all work in the US. The FTC says "Paid post for [brand]" or "Sponsored by [brand]" is clearer than a bare label, and that a hashtag is fine but not required.

## Which disclosure labels do not count?

Vague labels do not count, because viewers may not read them as advertising. Disclosures 101 warns against abbreviations such as "sp," "spon," and "collab," and says "thanks" or "ambassador" on their own are unclear.

The FTC's Q&A goes further. It calls "#ambassador" and "partner" ambiguous and confusing, and says "#comped" and "#hosted" are not clear enough. "Gifted" alone is likely ambiguous, though "Gifted by [brand]" should work when the creator received only free product. A "thank you" to a brand does not tell viewers the creator got anything.

A brand tag is not a disclosure either. It tells people which brand appears in the post, not whether the creator was paid.

## Do free products and affiliate links need a disclosure?

Yes, both do. Section 255.5 lists free or discounted products as a material connection "regardless of whether the advertiser requires an endorsement in return." A creator who posts about a gift you sent must disclose it, even if you never asked for a post.

The Guides give the example of a tool maker that sends a woodworking influencer a free lathe. The FTC says the manufacturer should tell the influencer to disclose when it sends the product, and should monitor the influencer's posts. That is a template for [product seeding](/guides/product-seeding/): put a disclosure note in every package and check what gets posted.

Affiliate links count too. The Guides say a reviewer earning a share of sales through affiliate links should disclose that pay. The FTC's Q&A warns that "affiliate link" alone may not be understood, and offers "I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post" as a clear version. A personalized promo code is not enough either. The FTC says a code with the creator's name probably signals a relationship with the brand, but may not make clear the creator is paid, and recommends erring on the side of disclosure.

## Are platform disclosure tools enough on their own?

Not necessarily. Each major platform has a built-in label, and creators should use it, but the FTC's Q&A says the responsibility for clear disclosure rests with the influencer and the brand, not the platform, and recommends adding your own disclosure anyway. The Endorsement Guides describe a built-in label in small white text on a light image, shown for five seconds, as one that fails.

| Platform | Built-in tool | What viewers see | Enough alone? |
|---|---|---|---|
| YouTube | Paid promotion setting in video details | A disclosure label at the beginning of the video | No. YouTube says creators and partners must still meet all legal requirements |
| Instagram | Paid partnership label for Feed, Stories, Reels, Live, and Broadcast Channels | "Paid partnership with" the brand, once the brand approves the tag | Not necessarily. Add "Ad" in the caption and in the video |
| TikTok | Commercial content disclosure setting, with "Your brand" or "Branded content" options | "Paid partnership" for branded content | No. TikTok's policy says creators are responsible for complying with all applicable laws |
| Facebook | Branded content tool that tags the business partner | A label tagging the brand partner | No. Meta's policy says you must also provide all legally required disclosures |

Platforms enforce their own rules. TikTok's help center says a creator flagged for undisclosed commercial content gets 24 hours to turn on the setting or appeal, after which the video may not be eligible for the For You feed. On Instagram, the label loses your name until you approve the creator's tag request, and disappears if you deny it, so approve requests quickly.

## What does the FTC's 2024 fake reviews rule mean for sponsors?

The FTC's Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials, 16 CFR Part 465, took effect on October 21, 2024, and it lets courts impose civil penalties for knowing violations. Three parts matter to sponsors.

First, the FTC's staff Q&A says a hired influencer's post touting a product counts as a celebrity testimonial under the rule. Section 465.2 bars a business from spreading a testimonial it knew or should have known misrepresents whether the person used the product or what happened when they did. Get product to creators early enough to use it, and never script a result they did not get.

Second, Section 465.4 bans paying for reviews that express a particular sentiment. You may offer an incentive for an honest review. You may not tie it to a positive one.

Third, Section 465.8 bans buying or selling fake indicators of social media influence, such as bot followers or views, when the buyer knew or should have known they were fake. The staff Q&A says liability turns on red flags that should have tipped you off. Vet audiences before you book, and never buy followers or views for any account, yours or a creator's.

The rule leaves disclosure to the Endorsement Guides. The staff Q&A says its only disclosure requirements concern company insiders, and that hiding an influencer relationship can still violate the FTC Act.

## What are the UK rules for influencer ads?

UK influencer ads must be obviously identifiable as ads under rule 2.1 of the CAP Code, which the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) enforces, and under consumer protection law, which the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) enforces. Both bodies expect a clear "Ad" label upfront.

The ASA's advice, dated August 2026, says it is likely to expect a prominent "ad" label at the beginning of influencer content. "Ad," "Advert," "Advertising," "Ad Feature," and "Advertisement Feature" are likely to be acceptable, with or without a hashtag. The ASA advises against "sponsored" because it is open to varied interpretation, and says "Gifted," "In association with," "#BrandAmbassador," a brand mention, or a discount code are unlikely to be enough.

On platform tools, the ASA says a label like Instagram's "Paid partnership" may be enough if it is upfront, clear, and prominent, but its 2026 research found it may not be enough on its own. If in doubt, add "Ad." Both brands and influencers are responsible, and when an influencer ad breaks the Code, the ASA names both in its ruling. For affiliate content, it usually treats the brand as at least jointly responsible.

That "sponsored" point is the biggest gap with US practice. "Sponsored by [brand]" satisfies the FTC but not the ASA, so use "Ad" on any post a UK audience will see.

## What does the CMA require under UK consumer law?

The CMA requires every incentivized post to be labeled as an ad from the first moment someone sees it. Since 6 April 2025, the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 governs unfair commercial practices, and its list of banned practices includes paid editorial content that does not make the promotion clear. The CMA's own example is an influencer gifted a holiday who posts without a label such as #Ad.

The penalties are large. The CMA's guidance says banned practices can lead to monetary penalties of up to £300,000 or 10 percent of worldwide turnover, whichever is higher.

The CMA's guidance for content creators, updated September 2025, lists acceptable labels as "ad," "advert," "AD," "advertising," and "advertisement." It tells creators to avoid terms including "#gifted," "#aff," "#affiliate," "#collab," "#spon," "#sponsored," "In association with," and "thank you." Podcasts and videos must give the disclosure at the beginning of the ad, and each promotional item in a carousel needs its own label. A platform tool is fine if its label is clear. If it is not, add "#Ad" upfront.

The guidance covers gifts as well as paid posts, and says everyone involved in creating the content must take responsibility for labeling it.

## What does EU law require?

EU law requires that paid content never hide its commercial purpose. The Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, 2005/29/EC, bans in all circumstances "using editorial content in the media to promote a product where a trader has paid for the promotion without making that clear in the content or by images or sounds clearly identifiable by the consumer." Article 7(2) also treats failing to identify commercial intent as a misleading omission.

Each EU country applies the directive through its own law and regulators, so preferred labels and enforcement vary. Check national guidance for each market you target. For coordinated cross-border cases, the directive requires countries to allow maximum fines of at least 4 percent of the trader's annual turnover in the countries concerned, or at least 2 million euros where turnover data is unavailable.

The Digital Services Act adds a duty for platforms. Article 26(2) requires online platforms to give users a way to declare that their content contains commercial communications, and to show other users a clear marking in real time when they do. The Act says it complements the disclosure duties traders already have under the directive. The toggle is the platform's job. The disclosure is still yours and the creator's.

## What are Canada's rules?

Canada's Competition Bureau says influencers should disclose all material connections with the business they promote, and that the deceptive marketing provisions of the Competition Act apply to anyone promoting a product. Material connections include payment, commissions, free products, discounts, free trips or event tickets, and personal or family relationships.

The Bureau's best practices match the FTC's closely. Disclosures should be prominent, not lost in a long caption, a group of hashtags, or a profile bio. They should be visible on every device without tapping to expand the post, and they should appear on each platform where the content is shared. The Bureau says tagging a brand, posting a discount code, or linking to an affiliate page is unlikely to be enough, and that some content needs both audio and visual disclosures.

## How do the disclosure rules compare by country?

The rules agree on the basics: disclose any paid or gifted connection, upfront, in plain words. They differ on labels and on who enforces them.

| Jurisdiction | Main rules | Enforcer | Label to use | Platform tool alone | Brand liable |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | FTC Act, Endorsement Guides, Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule | FTC | "Ad," "Sponsored by [brand]," or "Paid post for [brand]" | Not necessarily enough | Yes |
| UK | CAP Code rule 2.1, DMCC Act 2024 | ASA, CMA, Trading Standards | "Ad" upfront. Avoid "sponsored" | Only if clear and upfront | Yes, ASA rulings name both |
| EU | Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, Digital Services Act for platforms | National consumer authorities | Clear statement of commercial intent, per national guidance | Platforms must offer one. Disclosure duty stays with traders | Yes, the directive applies to traders |
| Canada | Competition Act | Competition Bureau | Plain, unambiguous words | Not addressed. Disclose in the content | Yes, the Act applies to anyone promoting |

## What should a brand do on every sponsored post?

Build disclosure into the deal from the brief to the final check. In order:

1. Write the exact label and its position into the brief and the contract. Use "Ad" if UK viewers will see the post.
2. Send creators the FTC's Disclosures 101 or the CMA's guidance, depending on the audience.
3. Approve the creator's tag request on Instagram or Facebook so the label carries your name.
4. Review drafts for the disclosure and for claims the creator cannot back with their own experience.
5. Check each post within a day of going live, including the spoken disclosure in videos.
6. Ask for any fix in writing, set a deadline, and keep screenshots of the post before and after.

When you later run the post as an ad from the creator's handle, check the disclosure again. Our guide to [usage rights and whitelisting](/guides/usage-rights-and-whitelisting/) covers those permissions.

## Questions people also ask

### Does a podcast host-read ad need a disclosure?

In the US, maybe not a separate one. The FTC's Endorsement Guides give the example of a host reading what is obviously a commercial near the start of an episode, and say listeners would expect payment. If the read sounds like the host's personal opinion, the host must actually hold that view. UK guidance from the CMA says the disclosure must come at the beginning of the ad.

### Do US rules apply to a creator based outside the US?

They can. The FTC's Disclosures 101 says US law applies if it is reasonably foreseeable that a post will affect US consumers. A UK creator with a large American audience should meet the FTC's standard as well as the UK one, which in practice means an upfront 'Ad' label in the content itself.

### Is a disclosure in the comments enough?

No. The FTC's Q&A on the Endorsement Guides says a disclosure in the comments is easily avoidable and so is not clear and conspicuous. The disclosure belongs in the caption's opening lines and, for video, in the video itself.

### Do employees need to disclose when they post about our products?

Yes, when the audience would not know they work for you. The Endorsement Guides give the example of an employee promoting their employer's product in an online forum, and say the employer should train employees and monitor posts it knows about. The FTC's reviews rule also bars officers and managers from posting reviews of their own business without disclosing the relationship.

### Does the disclosure have to be in the same language as the post?

Yes. The FTC's Disclosures 101 says to use the same language as the endorsement. A Spanish-language video with an English-only '#ad' in the caption leaves Spanish-speaking viewers without a disclosure they can read.


## Sources

- [eCFR: 16 CFR Part 255, Guides Concerning Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-255)
- [FTC: Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers](https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/disclosures-101-social-media-influencers)
- [FTC: FTC's Endorsement Guides, What People Are Asking](https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/ftcs-endorsement-guides-what-people-are-asking)
- [eCFR: 16 CFR Part 465, Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-465)
- [FTC: Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule, Questions and Answers](https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/consumer-reviews-testimonials-rule-questions-answers)
- [YouTube Help: Add branded content restrictions and disclosure labels](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/154235?hl=en)
- [Instagram Help: How to use the paid partnership label to tag organic branded content on Instagram](https://help.instagram.com/1109894795810258)
- [Meta Business Help Center: Branded Content Policies](https://www.facebook.com/business/help/221149188908254)
- [TikTok: Branded Content Policy](https://www.tiktok.com/legal/page/global/bc-policy/en)
- [TikTok Ads Help: About the Commercial Content Disclosure setting for creators](https://ads.tiktok.com/help/article/about-the-content-disclosure-setting-for-creators)
- [TikTok Ads Help: How to turn on the Commercial Content Disclosure setting in TikTok](https://ads.tiktok.com/help/article/how-to-turn-on-the-commercial-content-disclosure-setting-in-tiktok)
- [ASA and CAP: CAP Code, Section 2, Recognition of marketing communications](https://www.asa.org.uk/type/non_broadcast/code_section/02.html)
- [ASA and CAP: Recognising ads, social media and influencer marketing](https://www.asa.org.uk/advice-online/recognising-ads-social-media.html)
- [CMA: Social media endorsements, guidance for content creators](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-media-endorsements-guidance-for-content-creators/social-media-endorsements-being-transparent-with-your-followers)
- [CMA: Unfair commercial practices guidance, CMA207](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/unfair-commercial-practices-cma207/unfair-commercial-practices)
- [EUR-Lex: Directive 2005/29/EC on unfair commercial practices, consolidated text](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02005L0029-20220528)
- [EUR-Lex: Regulation (EU) 2022/2065, the Digital Services Act](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32022R2065)
- [Competition Bureau Canada: Influencer marketing and the Competition Act](https://competition-bureau.canada.ca/en/deceptive-marketing-practices/types-deceptive-marketing-practices/influencer-marketing-and-competition-act)