FTC Disclosure
It is imperative all our partners who promote our products through content, endorsements, testimonials or any other form of promotion, provide a Federal Trade Commission disclosure.
We take FTC disclosure seriously and monitor all of our partners. If you are being compensated by TextExpander, in any way, you must disclose that relationship. There are no exceptions.
If you receive any of the below, you must have a FTC disclosure:
- Free products
- Cash payments
- Commissions
- Store credits
- Discounts
- Special access
- Anything of value in exchange for mentioning our products
How Should I Disclose?
The FTC has shared a mnemonic they use called the 4Ps4:
- Prominence: Is the disclosure big enough for consumers to read easily?
- Presentation: Is the disclosure worded in a way that consumers can easily understand?
- Placement: Is the disclosure where consumers are likely to look?
- Proximity: Is the disclosure close to the claim it modifies?
It is very important that you post in a clear and conspicuous manner for the reasonable consumer to see and understand.
Blog Posts
Your disclosure should be above the fold, at the top of the pages. The consumer should not have to scroll to see the disclosure.
The disclosure should not be in a smaller font than the rest of the page and should be in a color that is the same as the rest of the text on the page, or another that stands out.
Examples of Affiliate Disclosures
“This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.”
“I was compensated for this post. This post also contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.”
Social Media
Space constrained posts are not exempt from the FTC disclosure.
Include:
- Ad or #ad
- Sponsored or #sponsored
- Promotion or #promotion
- Paid or #paid
Additional Articles
- 2020 Guide To FTC Influencer & Endorsement Guidelines
- The FTC’s Endorsement Guides: What People Are Asking
- FTC Releases Advertising Disclosures Guidance for Online Influencers
- FTC: Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers
- Disclosures 101: New FTC resources for social media influencers
- FTC Disclosure for Affiliates: The Definitive Guide
- Are you Disclosing Properly?
- Affiliate Disclosure Do’s and Don’ts You Need To Know Now by Justine Grey
- FTC Disclosure for Affiliates: The Definitive Guide
GDPR Compliance
Created in 2018, The Global Date Protection Regulations (GDPR) provides more transparency and control on how internet data is used. Even if you are not located in Europe, if you receive any visitors from Europe, you need to ask their permission to use personal information, including cookies (tracking code used for affiliate marketing). There are significant monetary penalties for not complying with GDPR.
You need to be GDPR compliant if you are collecting personal information from your visitors. For example:
- You are using affiliate cookies to track sales so you can earn a commission.
- You have Google Analytics or a similar program installed on your site.
- You display comments on your site.
- You utilize a mailing list to advertise to visitors that sign up.
If any of the above statements are true, you must be GDPR compliant.
Most shopping carts and blog platforms have created plugins to provide the opt in you need. Don’t forget to include a privacy page on your site. This is important for GDPR and many other advertisers and search engines require it too, as a well as a Terms of Service.
More articles:
- The GDPR And Affiliate Marketing: What You Need To Know
- 7 Best WordPress GDPR Plugins to Create a GDPR Compliant Site
- Does My Website Really Need a Terms and Conditions Page?
Paid Search Restrictions
As with most affiliate programs, we have rules to which our partners must abide. This includes paid search restrictions. Our team monitors for compliance and violations will result in the termination of our program and forfeiture of commissions.
- We do not allow the use of paid search marketing (PPC) on any platform. This includes, but is not limited to, Google, Yahoo, Bing, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. There can be no direct linking, no trademark keyword bidding, no trademark plus coupon keyword bidding and no non-trademark keyword bidding. These restrictions include, but are not limited to, pay per view, pay per impression, social media marketplaces (Facebook, Instagram), media buys on ad networks, YouTube, offline print publications, pay per click, “Ad injection” on natural or paid search results or others.
- We do not allow you to register any social profiles (pages, groups, forums), URLs or domains considered by SmileOnMyMac to be infringing on our name or trademark. This includes, but is not limited to, any registered or pending trademarks.
- We do not allow affiliates to purchase or otherwise contract with a third party to exploit SmileOnMyMac’s marks or registered domain names, or any marks or domain names which may, in SmileOnMyMac’s reasonable discretion, be confused with SmileOnMyMac’s marks or registered domain names including, but not limited to, misspellings of SmileOnMyMac’s marks or registered domain names, whether in meta tags or otherwise.
- We do not allow use of any Spyware, Adware or Malware to promote our program.
- We do not allow Use of “cookie stuffing” or “forced click” strategies to promote our program.
- We do not allow affiliates to use misleading text, images or links that imply any deal that is not authorized through the affiliate channel. Use of exclusive coupon codes by unauthorized affiliates will result in voided transactions. User-submitted coupon codes from other marketing channels, such as email, are prohibited from use by affiliates. Expired coupons and deals must be removed or marked as expired immediately.
- Affiliates may only use logos, banners, and images provided through the ShareASale interface. You must contact the affiliate manager before using any images from the merchant website or social media.
- Trademark names include TextExpander, Smile, SmileOnMyMac and/or any misspellings or similar alterations of these keywords.