FTC Guidelines

It’s pretty straightforward to create and share affiliate content, but did you know that you could get in trouble if not done right? That's where the FTC comes in.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose mission is to protect consumers from anticompetitive, deceptive, and unfair business practices.

In other words, the FTC wants to make sure that consumers are able to make the difference between ad content and organic content. And even if you're not from the United States, the laws may still apply to you.

Over the past few years, the FTC has expressed growing concern over the lack of transparency in affiliate content. As an affiliate marketer, you are considered an advertiser, which means you fall under the governance of the FTC.

According to the FTC's rules, affiliates must disclose the nature of their relationships with the brands within their content. Your audience needs to understand whether what they're seeing is an ad or a genuine endorsement, with no monetary gain in it for you.

Violating the FTC's rules can result in penalties, fines, and even legal fees. And unfortunately, "I didn't know" simply won't cut it.

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Reading and understanding the FTC's guidelines can be cause for some headaches, which is why we've compiled a quick summary of the key requirements you must meet as a HubSpot affiliate.

Please note that these are our own interpretations based on our understanding of the FTC and should not be used as legal advice.

Familiarize yourself with these guidelines:

• Disclosure language must be placed before your affiliate link in any and all placements, regardless of the format of the content. It's best practice to place your affiliate disclosure above your affiliate links at the beginning of your content or as close to the links as possible. 
• Disclosures need to be clear and apparent to the reader. In other words, you shouldn’t have to search or click on a link in order to see it. For example, although placing your affiliate disclosure in your website footer meets the requirement of having one, it may be hard to find and thus not meet the requirement of being displayed clearly and conspicuously.
• If you include your affiliate link in any social media posts, you must include an FTC disclosure. You can use hashtags to disclose your affiliate relationship like #HubSpotAffiliate or #Ad.
• If using video, the disclosure should be present in both audio and written form, and not just in the text description.
• Disclosures should always be added, even in cases where space is limited.
• Disclosures should be in the same language as the endorsement.
• If posting from outside the United States, U.S. law applies if it’s reasonably foreseeable that the post will affect U.S. consumers. Foreign laws might also apply.

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If you’re not sure what to put as your disclosure, here are some examples you can use:

• We receive commission on purchases made through links on this page/in this email.
• If you upgrade and make a purchase through this link, we will receive a commission.
• Heads up, we make money if you purchase with this link.
• We are a HubSpot affiliate and receive a commission when you purchase.

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As mentioned earlier, these are our own interpretations based on our understanding of the FTC and should not be used as legal advice.

When in doubt, visit the following links or reach out to the FTC directly:

• FTC “.com Disclosures” Guidelines for Digital Advertising
• FTC Endorsement Guidelines
• The FTC’s Endorsement Guides: What People Are Asking
• Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers

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