FTC Affiliate Disclosure: What It Requires and How to Get It Right

If your website earns affiliate commissions, U.S. law expects you to tell your readers. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) treats an affiliate relationship as a "material connection" that must be disclosed clearly. This guide explains what that means in practice, without the legalese — and why getting it right is one of the simplest ways to demonstrate that you run a legitimate operation.

This is general information, not legal advice. For your specific situation, consult a qualified attorney.

Why disclosure is required

The FTC's job is to prevent deceptive advertising. When a publisher recommends a product and stands to earn money if you buy it, that financial interest could influence the recommendation — or at least a reasonable reader would want to know about it. The FTC's Endorsement Guides require that this kind of "material connection" be disclosed so readers can weigh the recommendation accordingly.

Affiliate commissions are a textbook material connection. So are free products received for review, sponsorships, and any other arrangement where you get something of value.

The core principles

The FTC doesn't mandate exact wording, but it's consistent about the qualities a good disclosure must have:

Clear and conspicuous. A reader shouldn't have to hunt for it. It must be easy to notice and easy to understand.
Close to the claim. The disclosure should appear near the recommendation it relates to — ideally before the reader encounters the affiliate link, not buried at the bottom of the page.
In plain language. "We may earn a commission if you buy through our links" beats vague jargon or ambiguous hashtags.
Unavoidable. It shouldn't be hidden behind a click, in a tiny font, or in a color that blends into the background.

The guiding question is simple: would a typical reader actually see and understand it before acting on the recommendation?

Where to put your disclosure

Most trustworthy publishers use a layered approach:

A site-wide disclosure page that explains the relationship in full — like our own affiliate disclosure. This is the formal, linkable version networks look for.
A short, in-context disclosure near the top of any page with affiliate links, before the first link, telling the reader what to expect.
A persistent link to the disclosure page in the site footer, reachable from anywhere.

The site-wide page alone is not enough if a reader can land on a review page and hit affiliate links without ever seeing a disclosure. The in-context note is what does the real work.

Common mistakes that undermine compliance

Footer-only disclosure. If the only disclosure is in the footer of a long page, many readers will click an affiliate link before they ever scroll to it.
Vague language. Ambiguous phrases or a lone hashtag aren't clear enough on their own.
Disclosure after the links. Placing the notice below the recommendations defeats the purpose.
Hidden styling. Tiny gray text on a white background technically "discloses" but isn't conspicuous.
Inconsistency across a network. If you run multiple sites, each needs its own visible disclosure. A reviewer checking one property will notice if the standard isn't applied everywhere.

Why this matters beyond the law

Compliance is the floor, not the ceiling. Clear disclosure is also one of the fastest ways to signal that you're a legitimate operator — to readers and to the affiliate networks vetting your application.

Network reviewers at programs like Amazon Associates, Impact, CJ Affiliate, and ShareASale check for exactly this. A clean, conspicuous, consistently-applied disclosure tells them you understand the rules and take them seriously. A missing or buried disclosure does the opposite, and it's a common reason applications get rejected.

At Type 5 Marketing, we treat disclosure as non-negotiable across every brand in our portfolio. Each property discloses its affiliate relationships before the first affiliate link, and our editorial policy makes clear that commissions never influence a verdict — which is the substance behind the disclosure. A disclosure that says "we may earn a commission" only matters if the commission genuinely doesn't change the recommendation. We back the words with a public review methodology that keeps commission rate out of the scoring entirely.

A simple checklist

Before you publish a page with affiliate links, confirm:

[ ] There's a plain-language disclosure above the first affiliate link.
[ ] The disclosure is easy to see — normal text size, good contrast, no hiding.
[ ] A full disclosure page exists and is linked in the footer.
[ ] The same standard is applied on every page and every site you run.
[ ] Your recommendations would survive scrutiny even if the reader knows exactly how you're paid.

If you can check all five, you're not just compliant — you're trustworthy, which is the entire point.

The bottom line

FTC affiliate disclosure isn't a burden to minimize; it's an opportunity to demonstrate integrity. Disclose clearly, disclose early, disclose consistently, and make sure your actual practices live up to what you disclose. Do that, and disclosure stops being a compliance chore and becomes a competitive advantage.

Questions about how we handle disclosure across our brands? Get in touch — we're happy to walk through it.

Sources

U.S. Federal Trade Commission, FTC Endorsement Guides: What People Are Asking and Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers (ftc.gov) — the FTC's plain-language guidance on disclosing material connections.
16 CFR Part 255, Guides Concerning Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising — the underlying federal regulation.