FTC Disclosure Rules for Creators: When You Need #ad and How to Show It on Each Platform

If a brand pays you, sends you free product, or gives you a discount code or a commission, your audience is supposed to know. In the US, the FTC sets that expectation. Each platform then adds its own label on top. Those are two separate jobs, and doing one doesn't always cover the other.

This guide is a practical overview, not legal advice.

When you need to disclose

The FTC says to "disclose when you have any financial, employment, personal, or family relationship with a brand." Money isn't the only trigger: "Disclose the relationship if you got anything of value to mention a product." If a brand gives you free or discounted products or other perks, disclose when you mention its products, "even if you weren't asked to mention that product." And "Don't assume your followers already know about your brand relationships" (FTC Disclosures 101).

The Endorsement Guides themselves (16 CFR 255.5) also list early access to a product and the possibility of being paid or winning a prize. Free products count even when they're unrelated to the product you're endorsing (eCFR). Tagging a brand doesn't count as a disclosure either: "Tagging a brand is an endorsement, but it's not a disclosure that you have a connection to a brand" (FTC FAQ).

What doesn't need one: if you mention a product you paid for yourself, "there isn't an issue." The same goes for a free sample a store hands out to all its customers (FTC FAQ). Posting from abroad doesn't exempt you, though: "U.S. law applies if it's reasonably foreseeable that the post will affect U.S. consumers. Foreign laws might also apply" (FTC Disclosures 101).

The Endorsement Guides "don't have the force of law," but practices that go against them "may result in law enforcement actions" (FTC FAQ).

What a clear disclosure looks like

The FTC "doesn't mandate the specific wording of disclosures" and "doesn't dictate where you have to place the disclosure." What it looks for is a disclosure that is "easily noticeable, easily understandable, and hard to miss" (FTC FAQ). In practice:

• Put it in the video. "The disclosure should be in the video and not just in the description uploaded with the video." Saying it out loud and showing it on screen gives it the best chance of being noticed, because "Some viewers may watch without sound and others may not notice superimposed words" (FTC Disclosures 101).
• Say it early. Viewers "are more likely to miss a disclosure at the end of the video." The beginning is better, and "multiple disclosures during the video would be even better." If the sponsored part comes in the middle of a longer video, disclose right before or at the start of that part (FTC FAQ).
• Don't bury it. "Don't mix your disclosure into a group of hashtags or links." Disclosures are easy to miss if they appear only on your profile page, at the end of a post, or behind a MORE click. A disclosure in the comments doesn't count either: it's "easily avoidable and thus not clear and conspicuous."
• Use plain words. "Ad," "advertisement," "sponsored," or "Thanks to Acme brand for the free product." Adding a hashtag like #ad is "fine (but not necessary)." Avoid "sp," "spon" and "collab," and don't use "thanks" or "ambassador" on their own.
• Match your language. Disclose in the same language as the endorsement.
• Livestreams: repeat it periodically, so people who tune in late still see it. Stories and photo posts: put the disclosure over the image and give viewers enough time to read it.
• Affiliate links: people might not understand "affiliate link" on its own. "Paid link" right next to the link "should be an adequate disclosure." If a video has affiliate links in its description, the FTC says to disclose the relationship "both in the videos and in the description near the links."
• Don't rely on the toggle. "Don't assume that a platform's disclosure tool is good enough, but consider using it in addition to your own, good disclosure."

Platform by platform

TikTok. "If you're posting commercial content on TikTok, you must clearly disclose it using the content disclosure setting." That covers promoting your own business, and branded content where you get any kind of incentive. Turn on Disclose commercial content. Promoting your own brand adds a "Promotional content" label, and branded content adds a "Paid partnership" label. If you don't disclose, TikTok "may reduce its visibility or apply the content disclosure setting." Repeated failure can get your account temporarily restricted from posting, or banned (TikTok, Creator Academy). The FTC says a disclosure only in TikTok's text description is "very unlikely to be clear and conspicuous" (FTC FAQ).

Instagram and Facebook. Branded content "may only be posted with the use of the branded content tool," which you use to tag the brand with its prior permission. The label reads "Paid partnership with [partner]." Content with an affiliate link "should have the Paid partnership label," but you don't need to tag a business partner. Meta also says you "must also comply with all applicable laws and regulations," including any disclosures needed to show the content is commercial (Meta policy, Meta labels).

YouTube. "If your video contains branded content, you must let us know using the paid promotion declaration in Studio." That adds a disclosure label at the beginning of the video, but you are still "ultimately responsible for ensuring your disclosure is clear and prominent." If YouTube's systems detect branded content you didn't declare, it may apply the label automatically. Undisclosed branded content may also be removed (policy, how-to).

X. Organic posts that are part of a paid partnership "must have the 'Paid Partnership' disclosure on." You'll find it in Content Disclosure settings when you create the post. Gifts, affiliate links, discount codes and brand ambassador roles all count. X also says you're responsible for following applicable laws, including the FTC's Endorsement Guides where they apply. Penalties include having to remove the post and spending time in read-only mode, and repeat violations can lead to suspension (X policy).

Snapchat. Commercial content, including content promoting your own brand, "must identify the commercial nature of the content, and any promoted brand," and you must also label it with Snap's paid partnership tool. Every Snap needs the disclosure. Snap's example: if you post 6 commercial Snaps and disclose only on the first, only that first Snap can be amplified beyond your Public Profile (Snap).

Pinterest. Paid partnerships need "a clear disclosure," such as #ad or a label from Pinterest's paid partnership tool. Affiliate content falls under the same rules. Pinterest may remove, limit or block the distribution of content or accounts that break these rules (Pinterest).

LinkedIn. If you endorse something in exchange for personal benefit (a personal or family relationship, money, free products or services, or anything else of value), you need "a clear and conspicuous notice of the personal benefit you receive" (LinkedIn).

What the official pages don't say

• TikTok's pages don't say whether a #ad hashtag meets its rule. The requirement they state is the content disclosure setting.
• YouTube's help pages don't give the label's exact wording or say how long it stays on screen.
• Meta's branded content policy page doesn't state a penalty for skipping the tag.
• The FTC sets no minimum on-screen time, text size or exact second. It says a visual disclosure should stand out "by its size, contrast, location, the length of time it appears, and other characteristics" (eCFR).
• None of these pages lists "banned" hashtags or says disclosing lowers your reach. The risk TikTok describes runs the other way: without the proper disclosure, your content "may not be eligible for the For You Feed" (Creator Academy).

Check it before it goes live

FYProof checks your video, caption and hashtags against each platform's rules before you post, and flags brand cues like "use my code" or "gifted" that have no disclosure. Results are estimates, not guarantees, and not legal advice. FYProof is in free beta. Join the waitlist at https://fyproof.com.

Before you post

• [ ] Any payment, gift, discount, affiliate link, code, employer or family tie? Then disclose.
• [ ] "Ad" or "sponsored by" is said out loud and shown on screen, early in the video or right before the sponsored part
• [ ] The caption says it too, in the first lines and not buried in hashtags
• [ ] The platform label is on: Disclose commercial content (TikTok), Paid partnership (Instagram, Facebook), paid promotion (YouTube), Paid Partnership (X), paid partnership tool (Snapchat), #ad or the paid partnership tool (Pinterest)
• [ ] Livestream? Repeat the disclosure. Story? Make the text big enough to read and leave it up long enough to read
• [ ] No "sp," "spon" or "collab," and no "thanks" or "ambassador" on their own
• [ ] Posting from abroad, but the post is likely to reach US viewers? US rules can still apply