How to Disclose Affiliate Links in Blog Posts, Email and Videos

An affiliate disclosure should help a reader understand your financial relationship while they are considering your recommendation. Explain that you can earn a commission, put the explanation where people will encounter the recommendation, and review the actual published experience on each channel. A disclosure page is useful background, but it should not carry the entire job for an individual recommendation.

This guide is a practical publishing workflow informed by U.S. FTC staff guidance. The examples are illustrative, not approved legal templates or a guarantee of compliance. Other jurisdictions and program terms may impose additional requirements. Check the rules that apply to your audience and relationship before publishing.

Identify the relationship before writing the copy

Start with a small relationship record: the brand, compensation arrangement, product received, content being published and the person responsible for checking it. That record helps prevent an editor from describing a commissioned recommendation as an independent purchase.

The FTC explains that a material connection can include payment, gifts and certain personal or employment relationships. Its Disclosures 101 guide advises making the relationship understandable and hard to miss alongside the endorsement. It also advises against depending on a profile page, a buried hashtag collection or a disclosure beyond a More control.

For an affiliate recommendation, an illustrative sentence is: “I may earn a commission if you buy through these links.” If the brand also supplied a sample, explain that separately when relevant. Do not add “at no extra cost” unless you can substantiate that statement for the offer. A commission explanation should describe the actual arrangement rather than reassure readers with facts you have not checked.

Build the disclosure into the blog layout

Plan placement while outlining the article. Identify the first recommendation and the first buying link. Put a clear explanation where a reader can understand the relationship before acting on those recommendations. Review comparison tables, floating buying buttons and product cards separately, since they can be encountered without reading the introduction.

Consider an illustrative camera comparison. The opening discusses how the comparison was made, followed by a table containing links to sellers. An editor could place the commission explanation above the table, then inspect the mobile page to ensure that an advertisement, collapsed section or large image has not separated it from the recommendation.

This is a layout exercise, not a rule that one sentence at a particular pixel position settles every case. Ask a colleague to open the published page and describe what relationship they understand. If they need to hunt through the footer, revise the experience.

Keep a longer disclosure policy if it helps explain how your publication earns money. Link to it for background, while keeping the immediate relationship understandable on the article itself.

Review the email as its own publication

A subscriber may read a recommendation in an email and go directly to the merchant. Treat that message as its own reader experience. Place the relationship explanation with the recommendation instead of making the subscriber visit your website to discover it.

For example, an illustrative newsletter might introduce a software comparison, explain that the publisher can earn commissions from linked purchases, and then give the useful comparison and links. Before sending, inspect a real test message on a phone and in a desktop email client. Check the location of the explanation after images are blocked, in dark mode and in the plain-text version if one is provided.

Those are editorial QA suggestions. They do not establish that a specific email meets every advertising or email-law requirement. Have the appropriate reviewer check program terms, audience rules and the complete message when needed.

Put video disclosures in the video experience

The FTC's Disclosures 101 guidance says video endorsements need disclosures within the video, not solely in the uploaded description. It recommends both spoken and visible disclosure because viewers consume video differently. It also advises periodic disclosure during livestreams.

An illustrative creator could say, “These are affiliate links, so I can earn a commission from purchases,” while showing the same clear explanation on screen. Review the actual exported video, including the text size, contrast, timing and whether it remains visible under platform controls. Review a short clip independently if you cut it from the longer recording.

Do not assume a platform's paid-partnership setting replaces your own explanation. The FTC advises using platform tools in addition to a good disclosure rather than assuming they are sufficient. Keep the underlying relationship consistent between the video and its description.

A clear disclosure does not repair an unsupported recommendation

The FTC's endorsement questions and answers explains that endorsements must be honest and cannot convey claims the marketer could not legally make. Staff guidance is context dependent and does not provide a legal safe harbor.

During editorial review, separate the relationship statement from the product evidence. If you have not used a tool, describe verified specifications or documentation rather than writing a personal testing story. Label a hypothetical workflow as an example. Keep notes on the source for a price, feature or limitation so it can be refreshed later.

An illustrative software article could distinguish “the vendor documents this feature” from “we tested this feature.” That distinction matters even when the commission relationship is disclosed perfectly. A disclosure does not turn an invented experience into a truthful review.

Review reused content and changing relationships

A recommendation can travel farther than the original article. A comparison table may become a newsletter block. A long review may become a short video. A publisher may add a new buying button to an older page. Treat each new version as a reader experience that needs its own review.

Keep a version note that says which product is recommended, which relationship applies and where the explanation appears. When adapting the content, read the new opening and inspect the new buying path. Do not assume that a disclosure survived merely because the original file contained one. An image crop, shortened description or editor template can change what the reader sees.

Consider an illustrative desk-camera review. The blog has a commission explanation above its seller comparison, but the email excerpt contains only the recommendation and a buying button. The editor needs to review that email as a separate recommendation. If the creator later receives a paid sponsorship for a follow-up demonstration, the old commission sentence may no longer describe the full relationship. Update the relationship record before choosing the wording.

This version check also gives you a practical maintenance list. Record the article, email edition or video version, its owner and the date it was checked. If a promotion changes, identify the affected content rather than assuming a general announcement reaches every editor.

Keep a simple publication checklist

Use one record for each article, email or video:

• Relationship: record the commission, sample, sponsorship or other relevant connection.
• Wording: save the exact explanation used in the published content.
• Placement: identify where a reader or viewer encounters it.
• Format review: inspect the mobile page, delivered test email or exported video.
• Claims: retain sources for product facts and any actual experience.
• Final review: name the reviewer, review date and public URL or saved version.

Open the final destination rather than relying on the editor. If a content update adds a new sponsor, product or placement, revisit the relationship record and the visible explanation. Recheck older high-traffic articles as part of normal maintenance.

Start with one existing recommendation today. Read it as someone encountering your publication for the first time. Make the relationship clear, check the claims, and save the final version. For help choosing programs before creating content, use MonetizeHub's program comparison guide.

Related support for affiliate partnerships

ExperienceAdvertising.com provides affiliate program management support. AffiliateFinders.com provides partner discovery and contact research for brands and program managers. Evan Weber founded both businesses. These resources can support the partnership work, while the publisher and the appropriate reviewer remain responsible for the actual recommendation and disclosure.