Most publishers treat affiliate disclosures like a legal checkbox. Drop a line in the footer, move on, and hope nobody notices. That worked when you had ten posts and a single revenue stream. It stops working the moment your archive scales, Amazon links multiply, and readers encounter monetized recommendations across blog posts, email, and social.
An affiliate disclosure tells visitors you have a paid relationship with the companies you link to. The FTC requires it to prevent deceptive advertising. Amazon requires it under the Associates Operating Agreement. Skip it and you risk fines, program termination, and the kind of trust damage that compounds quietly over years.
This guide walks through what disclosures are, where to place them, and eight real examples you can adapt for your site without sounding like a stuffy lawyer.
Updated 2026.
1What Is an Affiliate Disclosure?
We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you. – Lasso will auto-generate disclosures like this one for your affiliate displays.
An affiliate disclosure is a statement that informs your visitors about a financial relationship with the company or person you are linking to. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requires this transparency so consumers understand when an endorsement may be influenced by compensation. Amazon also mandates disclosure to maintain trust with customers and protect the integrity of its Associates program.
For operators building at scale, disclosure is not a one-time legal task. It is link infrastructure. The same way you manage affiliate link management across hundreds of posts, you need a repeatable disclosure system that travels with every monetized surface.
Do You Have to Disclose You Are an Amazon Affiliate?
Yes. Amazon’s program rules require you to state somewhere on your site that you are in a paid relationship with Amazon, in addition to meeting FTC expectations.
Per the Amazon Associates Operating Agreement, you must include the following statement (or something substantially similar):
“As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.”
Many publishers display this in the site footer. That is a starting point, not a finish line. Footer-only placement often fails the before-click test on individual posts where readers tap affiliate links before they ever scroll down.
If you do not disclose affiliate links, you could be fined by the FTC, removed from programs like Amazon Associates, and lose credibility with an audience that values honesty over polish.
Why You Need an Affiliate Disclosure
The data tells a different story from what most hobby bloggers assume. Disclosure does not automatically tank conversions. What tanks conversions is vague recommendations, bad placement, and readers who feel misled after they click.
Three reasons disclosures matter for operators:
- Legal compliance. The FTC requires you to disclose any material connection before or near the endorsement.
- Trust building. Clear language signals you are not hiding how you make
money . - Program protection. Amazon and other networks can terminate accounts that ignore disclosure rules.
2Affiliate Disclosure Dos and Don’ts
Here is a quick reference if you skimmed straight to the actionable section. We get it. Disclosure law is not thrilling. But these rules are the difference between a compliant publishing business and a liability waiting for an audit.
Dos
- Clearly display your disclosures. Place them in visible areas like the footer, disclaimer pages, or near affiliate links.
- Always disclose. If you are getting paid, say so. This includes sponsored posts, product reviews, and social recommendations.
- Use clear language. Be straightforward about the relationship. Jargon does not protect you. Clarity does.
Don’ts
- Don’t hide disclosures. Avoid burying them in sidebars or obscure locations where mobile readers will never see them.
- Don’t use legal jargon. Keep wording simple and relatable. Readers should understand the relationship in one pass.
3How to Write an Affiliate Disclosure That Keeps You Safe
You have three main options when writing an affiliate disclosure:
- Do it yourself. Use the examples in this article as templates.
- Get a lawyer. Have a legal expert review your disclosure for compliance with FTC and Amazon requirements.
- Use Lasso. Automate disclosures across your affiliate links so you are not manually editing hundreds of posts.
I’ve been running affiliate sites for over nine years. Manual disclosure edits across a growing archive are where compliance breaks down. One author forgets. A VA clones an old template. A roundup goes live without the Amazon-specific line. The system drifts.
Lasso adds disclosures to affiliate link display boxes automatically. That keeps your site compliant without opening the block editor on every monetized page.
How Lasso Can Help You Disclose Your Affiliate Links
Lasso is a WordPress plugin built for affiliate publishers who need more than basic link storage. It lets you add what we call Affiliate Link Display Boxes to posts with a few clicks.
A cactus icon appears in your WordPress editor. Click it, choose how you want to display your affiliate links, and select the URL from your link library. Lasso inserts a shortcode that renders a product display with a built-in disclosure beneath the call-to-action button.
Do not like the default wording? Customize it per product or set a global default sitewide. Every Single URL display box can carry its own disclosure text, which means you standardize compliance at the template level instead of relying on memory.
For the full product rationale, read why you need Lasso. If you are still wiring Amazon links into WordPress, our guide on how to add Amazon affiliate links to WordPress covers the setup path.
Run an Opportunities Scan while you are auditing disclosures. Most operators find unmonetized product mentions or pages missing notices sitting in archives they already wrote. Compliance and revenue recovery often happen in the same pass.
48 Affiliate Disclosure Examples You Can Copy
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You have to be open-minded.
We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
Here are some of the best affiliate disclosures from bloggers and brands. Adapt the wording to your voice. Verify Amazon-specific language against the current Operating Agreement before you publish at scale.
Amazon Link Disclosure Examples
The most current Amazon recommendation for disclosing affiliate links:
“As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.”
That single sentence is the safe baseline most Amazon-heavy publishers standardize across their sites.
An older version still appears on legacy sites:
“[Website name] is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.”
Lasso’s default disclosure beneath product displays reads:
“We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you.”
Some publishers place a header version with a “Learn More” hyperlink leading to a full disclaimer page. That layered approach works when the inline notice is visible and the policy page adds depth.
NerdWallet displays compensation language clearly near its recommendations:
“We may receive compensation for products purchased through links in this post.”
Grow a Good Life shows how to combine Amazon and FTC language in a single top-of-post disclosure. That is the model we recommend for buying guides and roundups where both rule sets apply.
FTC and General Affiliate Link Disclosures
To comply with FTC regulations, you can use straightforward wording like:
“I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.”
Here are eight disclosure examples from real publishers you can copy and adapt:
- Amazon Affiliate Link Template: “As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.”
- Amy Lynn Andrews: “I may earn a commission from purchases made through links in this post.”
- Smart Passive Income: “This post contains affiliate links. I may earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.”
- Pinch of Yum: “We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you.”
- Cocktail Codex: “As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.”
- The Wirecutter: “Learn more about our affiliate disclosure here.”
- Nerdwallet: “We may receive compensation for products purchased through links in this post.”
- Grow a Good Life: “I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.”
When in doubt, use this quick fallback:
“Disclosure: We earn a small commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you.”
5Best Practices for Disclosing Affiliate Links
These practices are not optional extras. They are the operational layer that keeps disclosures working as your content footprint grows.
Clearly Display Your Affiliate Disclosures
Here are proven placement locations:
- Footer. Your disclosure policy appears on every page. Easy to implement, but not the clearest placement on its own.
- Disclaimer, Terms, and Privacy pages. Go into detail here, but do not treat these as your only disclosure surface.
- About page. Another trust signal for readers evaluating your credibility.
- Before the post with affiliate links. Lets readers know the article contains monetized links before they invest time reading.
- In-text near affiliate links. The FTC especially highlights proximity to links. This is the strongest placement on long-form content.
Always Disclose Affiliate Links
If you find yourself asking whether a disclosure is needed, the answer is yes.
- Disclose when you get paid. Sponsored posts, product reviews, advertising fees, and recommended products you do not own all count.
- Disclose on every page where an affiliate link appears. Repetition is not overkill. It is compliance hygiene.
- If you are unsure, add a disclosure. Free products and gifted access still create a material connection.
Use Clear Language
The easiest path to clarity is honest, direct wording. Tell readers exactly how the link works and how you earn from it. Humor can work when it does not obscure the relationship, but clarity always wins over cleverness.
Understand the Requirements for Each Medium
You must disclose affiliate links anywhere they appear. That includes blog posts, YouTube descriptions, podcasts (verbally), email newsletters, Twitter, Instagram, and any other channel where you recommend products.
Many readers encounter affiliate links on mobile devices. Keep disclosures short, legible, and placed where mobile users will see them before they tap. Do not rely on sidebar disclaimers that disappear on smaller screens.
6Affiliate Disclosure Generators
Disclosure generators are tools that help you produce compliant legal language for your site. Beyond affiliate disclaimers, they can assist with:
- Terms and conditions
- Cookie policies
- End-User License Agreements
- Return and refund policies
Popular options include Termly.io and PrivacyPolicies.com. These tools handle policy pages well. They do not replace contextual disclosures near your affiliate links inside content.
A couple of additional reminders:
- Follow laws in the EU and US by maintaining a valid privacy policy.
- If you have Europe-based visitors, comply with EU Cookie Law requirements.
7FAQs
Why Is an Amazon Associates Affiliate Disclosure Important?
Disclosing your Amazon Associates status is required under Amazon’s terms of service. Fail to disclose and you risk removal from the program. Clear disclosure also builds trust with readers who appreciate transparency about how you earn.
Do You Need a Separate Amazon Affiliate Disclosure?
Yes. You need disclosure language that satisfies FTC expectations for material connections, and separate Amazon-specific wording that meets the Associates Operating Agreement. The two overlap, but satisfying one does not automatically satisfy the other.
8Affiliate Disclosure Requirements Recap
You made it through a guide about a dull subject. Here is the compressed version:
- Add FTC disclosures whenever you publish affiliate links. Skipping them risks fines and program removal.
- Place disclosures on your privacy page, about page, footer, before posts, near affiliate links, and on off-site channels where you
monetize . - Use clear, honest messaging. Tell readers how affiliate links work and how you earn from them.
- When in doubt, add a disclosure.
Affiliate disclosures are infrastructure, not decoration. The publishers who handle them well build the notice into their publishing workflow instead of treating it as a legal afterthought.
We built Lasso because link management, disclosures, and opportunity detection belong in one system. Run an Opportunities Scan to find pages missing disclosures or sitting on unmonetized product mentions. Then standardize your wording once and let the system carry it across your archive.
Ready to automate disclosures and earn more from every click? Get started with Lasso today.
Matt Giovanisci
Matt Giovanisci has been a self-employed online business owner for over a decade building four profitable websites along the way. His #1 rule is to have fun, make money, and ignore "best practices." Ok, so three rules.