The rules themselves have not changed much. Enforcement has. Updated FTC guidance on influencer disclosures took effect on 1 July 2026, reported audit activity is up sharply on last year, and per-violation penalties run into the tens of thousands of dollars. The part brands consistently get wrong is assuming this is the creator's problem. It is not. If you paid for the post, you carry responsibility for whether it was disclosed properly.
What actually has to be disclosed
Any material connection between you and the creator. That is broader than a cash payment. It includes free product, discount codes, affiliate commission, loaned equipment, travel, an employment relationship, and family ties. If a reasonable viewer would weigh the endorsement differently knowing about the connection, it needs disclosing.
The standard is now noticed, not present
The direction of the 2026 guidance is that a disclosure existing somewhere is not enough. It has to be obvious to an ordinary viewer, immediately. In practice that rules out most of the ways disclosures have historically been hidden:
- Buried below the fold, behind a more tap, or at the end of a long caption.
- Stacked in a wall of hashtags where #ad is the fourteenth item.
- Spoken once at the end of a two-minute video, or shown for half a second.
- Relying only on the platform's built-in paid-partnership label with nothing in the content itself.
If a viewer could plausibly miss it, the FTC's position is that it was not a disclosure.
Put the wording in the brief, not the contract appendix
This is the single highest-leverage habit available to you. Creators are not lawyers, and a compliance clause on page nine of a contract does not survive contact with a shoot day. Write the exact disclosure language and its exact placement into the brief, next to the hook and the must-say points, where it will actually be read.
- The words: a plain #ad, Sponsored by [Brand], or Paid partnership with [Brand]. Not sp, not collab, not thanks to.
- The placement: in the first line of the caption, and on screen in the opening seconds of video.
- The spoken version, for anything with audio.
- The rule that it applies to every deliverable, including stories and reposts.
Check before it goes live, not after
Reviewing content for the brief and reviewing it for disclosure are the same pass, and doing it before publication costs nothing. Doing it afterwards means either a takedown of something that was working or a correction that draws more attention than the original. Keep the approved copy, the brief, and the creator's confirmation together, so if anyone ever asks, the record exists.
Sadie writes the disclosure requirement into every brief as a must-have and checks it on the way back in, before content reaches you for approval.
FAQ
Does gifted product need to be disclosed? Yes. Free product is a material connection whether or not money changed hands, and gifted campaigns are where disclosure is most often missed.
Is the platform's paid partnership tag enough on its own? Treat it as a supplement rather than the disclosure. The safe approach is the tag plus clear wording in the content itself.
Who is liable if a creator forgets, the brand or the creator? Both can be. Advertisers are expected to have a programme for informing creators of their obligations and monitoring what goes out, which is why the brief and the pre-publication check matter.