Affiliate Disclosure Requirements: The FTC Rules (2026)

If you earn a commission from affiliate links, affiliate disclosure requirements mean you should place a clear, plain-English disclosure before or near the recommendation or link so ordinary readers can notice and understand it. As of 2026, approximately, the safest approach is to disclose on every page, post, email, or social post where the endorsement appears rather than relying on a site-wide legal page alone. If you're building revenue beyond ads, this sits alongside affiliate monetization as a core compliance habit.

Affiliate disclosure requirements: the short answer

What counts as a material connection

The FTC focuses on endorsements and material connections. In plain terms, if you recommend a product or service and may benefit when someone clicks, signs up, or buys, that relationship usually needs to be disclosed. A commission is the obvious example, but free products, discounts, sponsorship arrangements, and other incentives can create the same issue.

Why a footer disclaimer alone is not enough

A footer link, terms page, or generic disclosure policy is helpful support, but it is not enough by itself. The core standard is that the disclosure should be clear and conspicuous in the context where the endorsement happens. If the affiliate link is in the post body, comparison table, email, or caption, the disclosure should appear there too.

What the FTC expects from an affiliate disclosure

Clear and conspicuous in practice

Clear and conspicuous means hard to miss and easy to understand. On a practical site-operator level, that usually means normal-size text, readable contrast, placement before the first affiliate link or endorsement, and wording that does not require legal interpretation. It also means the disclosure should still be visible on mobile, not pushed far down the page, hidden in tabs, or tucked behind an accordion.

Simple disclosure wording that usually works

Simple wording is usually stronger than clever wording. For example: “This article contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.” That tells the reader what matters. You can also adapt it to the situation: “Some links below are affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission if you sign up or make a purchase through them.”

Affiliate disclosure vs affiliate disclaimer

An affiliate disclosure is the short, in-context statement near the endorsement. An affiliate disclaimer is often used more broadly to describe a dedicated policy page or a longer legal notice. On most sites, you want both: the in-content disclosure for compliance and a disclosure page for completeness. But if you have to prioritize, the in-context disclosure matters more.

Where to place affiliate disclosures on a website

Best placement for blog posts

For blog posts and reviews, place the disclosure near the top of the content, before the first affiliate link and before any strong recommendation section. If the post opens with a product roundup, put the disclosure above that roundup. If readers can jump directly to a table or “top picks” section, it is smart to repeat the disclosure there too.

Disclosures for comparison tables and call-to-action buttons

Comparison tables and CTA buttons are high-intent spots, so disclosures should be nearby. A short line above the table or directly before the button cluster works well. The goal is that a user deciding whether to click “Check price,” “Start free trial,” or “View deal” sees the relationship before acting.

Mobile placement and scroll-depth issues

Mobile is where many otherwise decent disclosures break. Text that looks visible on desktop can end up below a giant hero image, hidden by sticky elements, or separated from the affiliate link by long blocks of content. Check actual mobile render, not just the editor preview. On long pages, repeat the disclosure if users might land halfway down from search snippets, jump links, or internal anchors.

Examples of compliant and weak affiliate disclosures

Good affiliate disclosure examples

• “This post contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.”
• “I may receive a commission if you sign up through links on this page.”
• “Some products below are linked with affiliate links, which means I may earn from qualifying purchases.”
• “This comparison includes affiliate links, so I may earn a commission if you choose a provider through these links.”

Weak disclosures to avoid

• “May contain links”
• “Thanks for supporting the site”
• “Partner content” without explaining the relationship
• A lone “Disclaimer” link in the footer
• Tiny, low-contrast text placed after the affiliate buttons

The weak versions fail because they are vague, euphemistic, or badly placed. Readers should not have to decode what “supporting the site” means. If money may change hands when they act on your recommendation, say that plainly.

FTC affiliate disclosure rules for different content types

Blog and review content

On blog posts, reviews, buyer guides, and “best of” pages, place a disclosure near the top and again near comparison elements where useful. Review pages often carry the strongest commercial intent, so this is where you should be most conservative about placement.

Email newsletters

If an email contains affiliate links or affiliate recommendations, the email itself should disclose that relationship. Do not assume your website disclosure page covers your newsletter. Put the disclosure near the top or before the monetized section, especially if the email is promotional.

Video, audio, and social media posts

For videos, show the disclosure in a visible on-screen or nearby written format and include it in the description where relevant. For podcasts, disclose in the episode audio when making the endorsement and, ideally, in show notes too. For social posts, the disclosure needs to be in that post or caption. A website-wide policy page does not travel with a short-form video or a social thread.

The same principle applies to downloadable PDFs, lead magnets, and resource guides. If the asset contains affiliate recommendations, the disclosure should be inside the asset, not only on the landing page.

How affiliate disclosure requirements interact with reviews and comparisons

Best-of lists and product roundups

Disclosures do not fix weak review practices. You still need honest opinions, accurate product claims, and current information. If you publish “best X” lists, roundups, and side-by-side comparison pages, be careful not to present affiliate-driven picks as purely neutral rankings if commission relationships influence placement.

Review methodology and editorial independence language

It can help to explain your review process separately from the affiliate disclosure. For example, you might note that products are evaluated using your own criteria and that compensation may affect whether a merchant appears on the page, but not the core assessment standards you apply. Keep that explanation truthful and avoid overstating independence if the business model materially shapes coverage.

This matters most on commercial pages such as buyer guides, software roundups, hosting comparisons, credit tool explainers, and service provider lists. Those are the pages where users are closest to taking action, so transparency should be strongest.

Common affiliate disclosure mistakes site owners make

Template and CMS issues

• Only disclosing on a separate affiliate disclaimer page
• Placing the disclosure after the first affiliate link
• Using vague wording that never mentions commissions
• Adding a disclosure to new posts but not old evergreen content
• Assuming a theme template injects the disclosure everywhere when some custom post types bypass it
• Forgetting category pages, comparison modules, or reusable content blocks

Mistakes on mobile and responsive layouts

• Disclosure text pushed below sticky ads or giant featured images
• Low-contrast disclosure styling that becomes harder to read on smaller screens
• Accordion or tab modules that hide the disclosure until after the click decision
• Buttons appearing before the disclosure on mobile due to responsive reordering
• Mixed monetization pages where affiliate links appear alongside ads or sponsored placements without clear labeling

A practical affiliate disclosure template you can adapt

Short-form template

Use this near the top of standard affiliate articles: “This article contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.”

Long-form article template

For detailed reviews and buyer guides: “Some of the links on this page are affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase or sign up. That comes at no extra cost to you.”

Disclosure block for tables and buttons

For comparison tables and CTA sections: “Disclosure: this section includes affiliate links, and I may earn a commission if you choose a provider through them.”

For email or social, keep it concise but explicit. Something like “Affiliate links included; I may earn a commission if you buy through them” is usually much clearer than shorthand that ordinary readers may not understand. Standardize these disclosures in reusable site snippets so they are easier to deploy consistently.

What I’d actually do on a monetized content site

A simple compliance workflow for publishers

I would set a default disclosure block at the top of every affiliate post template, then add a second short disclosure before the first monetized CTA or comparison table. I would also keep a dedicated disclosure policy page linked in the footer and about section, but treat that as support rather than the main compliance mechanism.

Then I’d run a quarterly audit of high-intent pages: best-of posts, software comparisons, tool roundups, newsletters, and any page with jump links to commercial sections. If a user can land directly on a monetized module, I want the disclosure close to that module.

Finally, I’d document it in the editorial workflow: if a page includes affiliate links, it needs a top disclosure, contextual placement near monetized elements, mobile review, and periodic refresh. That is boring, but it is how you keep compliance from breaking as the site grows. If you also run ads, map this into your wider revenue stack with the display ad monetization guide.