Affiliate Disclaimer Examples

An affiliate disclaimer is a disclosure statement that informs readers you may earn a commission if they purchase through links on your website, email, or social media posts. The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) requires these disclosures under 16 CFR § 255 whenever there is a 'material connection' between you and the brand you're promoting — including paid partnerships, free products, or commission-based relationships.

Yes, in the United States, the FTC requires affiliate disclosures on any content where you might earn a commission. Other countries have similar requirements — the UK's CAP Code, the EU's Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, and Canada's Competition Act all require disclosure of paid relationships. Failure to comply can result in FTC enforcement action, fines, and reputational damage.

Your affiliate disclaimer must be 'clear and conspicuous' — meaning placed where users will actually see it before they click any affiliate links. Best practice: put the disclosure at the top of every blog post, article, or email that contains affiliate links. On social media, it should appear at the start of captions, not buried in hashtags. A single disclosure page linked from your footer is not sufficient on its own.

No. A short, clear disclosure is just as legally effective as a long one. 'This post contains affiliate links. I may earn a commission if you buy through them at no extra cost to you.' is sufficient for most blog posts. Longer disclosures are appropriate for dedicated disclosure policy pages or high-liability contexts like sponsored content partnerships.

No — affiliate disclaimers do not directly hurt SEO. In fact, Google values transparency and E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness). Clear affiliate disclosures can actually improve your trust signals. What can hurt SEO is excessive affiliate links with thin content, not the disclosure itself.