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FTC endorsement rules: the disclosure standard, explained for live sellers

Updated 2026-10-16 · Sources & methodology noted inline

THE RULE IN ONE SENTENCE: the FTC's Endorsement Guides require that any 'material connection' between an endorser (you) and a brand — payment, free product, affiliate commission, employment, or even a family relationship — must be clearly and conspicuously disclosed when you endorse the product to an audience that wouldn't expect the connection. For a live seller this is not edge-case law: receiving commission on everything you sell is itself a material connection the audience may not fully grasp, which is why platforms require seller disclosures and why the FTC watches live commerce specifically.

WHAT 'CLEAR AND CONSPICUOUS' MEANS IN PRACTICE: the disclosure must be unavoidable and understandable — in a livestream that means spoken words, early and repeated, not a buried caption or a hashtag wall. '#ad' mixed into thirty hashtags at the end of a description is the classic failure the FTC cites. In live: say it ('This video includes products I earn commission on' or the platform's approved phrasing), put it in the pinned comment, and keep any on-screen disclosure legible and on screen long enough to read. Platform-native disclosure tools (TikTok's content disclosure setting) satisfy the platform but do not replace your verbal duty — use both.