Publisher Recruitment
Part of Affiliate programme terms and publisher rules
Setting expectations for sponsored and affiliate disclosures
Set disclosure expectations for affiliate links, sponsored content, gifted reviews and different publishing formats.
Tell publishers when and how to make a commercial relationship clear to their audience. Put the expectation in the agreement, then inspect the article, post, video or message as a reader would see it. The wording must fit the arrangement and be noticeable when a recommendation matters.
The Australian Consumer Law (ACL), in Schedule 2 to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, applies to digital marketing as well as bricks-and-mortar retail. Section 18 prohibits misleading or deceptive conduct; an undisclosed commercial connection can leave readers with a false impression of an organic recommendation.
Identify the relationship
Record whether the publisher may earn commission, receives a fixed placement payment, was given a product or receives another benefit for creating content. Do not treat these arrangements as interchangeable when describing them to readers.
The ACCC has raised concerns about commissioned and gifted influencer reviews presented as organic content. Such concerns do not prescribe one sentence for every placement. The question is whether the audience can understand the commercial connection in context.
On 24 March 2026, PhotobookShop had paid $39,600 in penalties after the ACCC issued two infringement notices over alleged misleading influencer reviews posted on Instagram. Between August 2024 and September 2025, it instructed influencers on 107 occasions not to disclose free products supplied for reviews.
Set the contract baseline in writing: require a plain-language disclosure that names each relevant connection—payment, gifted product or service, or possible commission—where the audience encounters the recommendation and beside an affiliate link. Treat this as the advertiser’s minimum publishing standard, not a claim that one formula guarantees legal compliance.
A concise agreement clause can say: “For every sponsored or affiliate placement, disclose any payment, gift or commission in plain language before or alongside the recommendation and next to each affiliate link; keep it visible in the published format and correct it if it is missing.”
ACCC Enforcement Actions: Influencer Disclosure Penalties
Review the format the audience receives
| Format | What to inspect |
|---|---|
| Article or buying guide | Is the relationship clear before readers rely on a recommendation or use a commissionable link? |
| Social post or short video | Is the disclosure visible in the post, rather than lost among tags or behind a shortened caption? |
| Long video or livestream | Can viewers understand the relationship at the relevant endorsement and link? |
| Newsletter | Is the relationship clear in the message recipients receive? |
These are review questions, not a statement that any placement is legally sufficient. A platform's paid-partnership tool may help, but inspect the finished content rather than assume the tool alone gives the audience a clear explanation.
Use the questions in the table as a reader-view test: can the reader identify whether the content is paid, gifted or commission-based before acting on the recommendation? If not, the reader does not find a clear explanation at the decision point, so request a correction and inspect the revised live placement.
Use plain, truthful wording. “Paid promotion” can describe a sponsored placement. “I may earn a commission if you buy through these links” explains a possible affiliate payment. Choose wording the intended reader can understand without decoding it.
Tie each phrase to the arrangement it describes. Place “Paid promotion” before or alongside a sponsored recommendation, and put “I may earn a commission if you buy through these links” beside the affiliate links it covers.
Disclosure Requirements by Content Format
- Article or Buying GuideDisclosure must be clear before readers rely on a recommendation or use a commissionable link.
- Social Post or Short VideoDisclosure must be visible in the post, not lost among tags or behind a shortened caption.
- Long Video or LivestreamViewers must understand the relationship at the point of endorsement and link.
- NewsletterDisclosure must be clear in the message recipients receive.
Assign the work
The advertiser should explain the commercial arrangement, provide accurate product facts and state the disclosure expectation before publication. The publisher should place and maintain the disclosure in its format and avoid unsupported claims. Agree who checks a proposed placement, who requests corrections and how material errors will be handled.
Keep product-fact checking separate: correct evidenced errors such as a wrong price, outdated specification or missing limit, but do not turn a defensible assessment into a favourable verdict; disclosure does not excuse an inaccurate claim.
Review the live placement on a phone where relevant. Check the first screen, collapsed captions, surrounding claims and the point where a reader encounters a link. Retain a dated record of a correction request and recheck the disclosure if an evergreen article later gains affiliate links or a paid arrangement changes.
Use a dated register entry to record the placement URL and format, the disclosure wording and position, what a reader can see or cannot find, any correction request and the recheck date.
