FTC Updates Disclosure Guidelines for Affiliates and Influencers by Tricia Meyer
Affiliate Marketing Resources
About Tricia Meyer
Tricia is an affiliate marketer, blogger, and consultant.
Update Overview
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has finally updated its Endorsement Guides, which outline the disclosure rules for affiliate marketers, influencers, and more. This update has been a long time coming, and while most of it aligns with expected changes, there are some new points worth noting, particularly around "dog influencers" and enhanced liability across various stakeholders.
Key Takeaways for Affiliate Marketers
This section will focus on the most relevant aspects of the update for affiliate marketers:
- "Affiliate link" is not adequate disclosure. Terms like "Affiliate," "Buy Now," "Commissionable Link," and even "Paid Link" are also insufficient. A clear and conspicuous disclosure is required.
- Endorsers can be held liable for false representations about product use. This includes written reviews, where the endorser did not genuinely use the product.
- Social media tags as endorsements: Tags in social media posts that promote brands with which influencers have a material connection (e.g., free products or payment) must be disclosed. Simply tagging a brand is not enough; disclosure needs to be clear and conspicuous on the post itself.
- Avoid relying solely on built-in social media disclosure tools. While these tools can be used, they should be enhanced to ensure compliance with the "unavoidable" and "clear and conspicuous" rules.
- Target audience consideration: The effectiveness of a disclosure is evaluated from the perspective of the target audience, taking into account language barriers or unique characteristics of specific groups.
Other Notable Updates
- Liability expansion: Advertisers, agencies, influencers, bloggers, and other intermediaries can all be held liable for deceptive endorsements.
- Agency responsibilities: Intermediaries like advertising agencies must have "reasonable programs" to train and monitor endorsers or consider pre-approving posts to ensure compliance.
- Review sites: Affiliate review websites that rank brands cannot accept payment for rankings.
Additional Resources
- FTC Endorsement Guides (80 pages of guidelines and FAQs)
- Tricia Meyer’s Affiliate Marketing Resources (for more insights and news)