Affiliate disclosure should appear before the link that can earn money

Affiliate disclosure should appear before the link that can earn money, not only at the bottom of a page or in a separate policy page. The reader needs to understand the commercial relationship before they act on the recommendation.

FTC Disclosures 101 tells influencers that brand relationships should be disclosed when recommending or endorsing products. The FTC Endorsement Guides explain that a material connection needs disclosure when a significant minority of the audience would not understand or expect it. For a small blog, newsletter, Shorts description, or product roundup, the practical question is whether the reader sees the relationship before clicking, buying, or trusting the recommendation.

A useful record has seven fields: product, brand, link type, commission or benefit type, exact disclosure wording, placement, and date checked. Examples of placement include before a comparison table, before the first affiliate link, near a recommendation box, in the opening of a sponsored review, and in the video description before outbound links. If the content is video or audio, creators should also consider whether the disclosure is visible or spoken in the content itself.

The weak pattern is hiding disclosure behind vague language. Phrases like “thanks to partners” or “support links” may not tell a casual viewer that the creator can earn money. A stronger note says what the relationship is in ordinary words. The point is not to make every recommendation sound suspicious; it is to make the commercial context clear enough that the audience can evaluate the recommendation fairly.

Affiliate disclosure should appear before the link that can earn money

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