Sponsored Post Checker

• Disclose any “material connection” to a brand: payment, free or discounted products, affiliate commission, or a personal, family or employment relationship.
• The disclosure must be hard to miss. The FTC says disclosures are likely to be missed if they appear only on a profile page, at the end of a post, or anywhere that requires a click on “more”.
• Use plain words such as “ad”, “advertisement” or “sponsored”. Law-firm guides flag vague tags like #sp, #collab, #partner and #ambassador as unclear.
• Use the platform’s paid-partnership tool in addition to your own words. The FTC says not to assume a platform tool is good enough on its own.
• In videos, viewers are more likely to notice a disclosure that is both spoken and shown on screen.

Labels this tool treats as clear: Ad / #ad; Advertisement; Sponsored; Paid partnership / paid promotion; Gifted; “Received this for free”; “I earn a commission” / affiliate link.

Labels this tool won’t rely on: #sp, #spon, #collab, #partner, #ambassador.

Sources: FTC: Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers

• Payment, gifts, affiliate links, discount codes and similar benefits make a post advertising. It needs a clear label before people read or watch the rest.
• “#ad”, “Ad” or “advert” at the start is the bare minimum recommended by the ASA and CMA. To explain the relationship, put “Ad” first, for example “Ad – gifted”.
• The ASA advises against relying on labels such as #gifted, #affiliate, #sp, #spon, #collab, “in partnership with”, or only tagging the brand.
• Each post, Story or video needs its own label. A disclosure in your bio doesn’t count.
• Platform paid-partnership tools can be enough if the label is upfront, clear and prominent, and the ASA and CMA strongly advise using them.
• The ASA can publicly name non-compliant influencers, and the CMA has fining powers under the DMCC Act.

Labels this tool treats as clear: Ad / #ad; Advert / Advertisement; Paid partnership (platform label).

Labels this tool won’t rely on: gifted, sponsored, affiliate, collab, “in partnership with”, “supported by”; #sp, #spon, #aff, #gift, #pr, #ambassador.

Sources: ASA/CAP: Influencers’ guide to making clear that ads are ads (PDF) · Osborne Clarke: ASA calls for influencer #ad transparency (2025) · RPC: CMA and ASA updated influencer guidance

• Advertising must be clearly recognisable at the start of the post. The media regulators’ guide (Medienanstalten, updated May 2025) recommends the German words “Werbung” or “Anzeige”.
• A hashtag alone, especially “#ad” or “#sponsored”, and a label hidden in a cloud of hashtags, have repeatedly been held insufficient by German courts.
• Free products can count: court rulings have treated posts about a product received for free, including brand links and tags, as advertising that needs a label.
• Both competition law (UWG) and media law (Medienstaatsvertrag) apply, so regulators and competitors’ associations can act.

Labels this tool treats as clear: Werbung; Anzeige; Bezahlte Partnerschaft (platform label).

Labels this tool won’t rely on: #ad; #sponsored, “paid partnership”, #poweredby, #gifted; #sp, #collab, #partner, #ambassador, #kooperation.

Sources: Die Medienanstalten: Leitfaden Werbekennzeichnung bei Online-Medien · kanzlei.law: Werbekennzeichnung für Influencer (BGH-Rechtsprechung) · ITMR: Werbekennzeichnung auf Instagram nach dem Medienstaatsvertrag

• Hidden advertising is prohibited under the Czech advertising act (Act No. 40/1995 Coll.). A paid post must be clearly and visibly marked as advertising.
• Law-firm guides name #reklama, #spolupráce, #placenépartnerství and #sponzorováno as clear labels, placed visibly at the start of the text and not hidden among dozens of hashtags.
• Barter counts: a free product given in exchange for brand content is advertising too. Merely thanking the brand or tagging it is not enough.
• Instagram’s “Placené partnerství” label is described as an even better option, alongside the written label.
• The advertiser is responsible too. Guides mention fines of up to CZK 2 million for individuals.

Labels this tool treats as clear: #reklama; #spolupráce; #placenépartnerství; #placenápropagace / placená spolupráce; #sponzorováno.

Labels this tool won’t rely on: #ad, #sponsored (English); #collab, #gifted, #ambasador, #partner.

Sources: gdpr.cz: Spolupráce s influencery pohledem práva (2024) · AK Šmarda: Influencer marketing pohledem práva · Průvodce podnikáním: Spolupráce s influencery v souladu se zákonem

• Slovak advertising law requires advertising to be labelled. The practical standard is the Influencer Marketing Code (Kódex influencer marketingu) from IAB Slovakia and ADMA, in place since September 2022.
• The code prefers Instagram’s “Platené partnerstvo” label, plus hashtags such as #spolupraca, #reklama, #platenepartnerstvo, #barter or #sponzorovanyobsah.
• Label in the language of the content, at the start and not at the end of a cluster of hashtags. Also show it in the video itself. Every collaboration needs a label, even for brand ambassadors.
• #ambasador does not meet the code. Instagram’s “Collaborator” feature is not an ad label.

Labels this tool treats as clear: #reklama; #spolupraca; #platenepartnerstvo; platená spolupráca; #sponzorovanyobsah; #reklamnyobsah; #sponzorovanasutaz; #barter.

Labels this tool won’t rely on: #ad, #sponsored (English); #ambasador; #collab, #gifted, #partner.

Sources: IAB Slovakia: Si influencer? Ako správne označovať reklamné spolupráce · IAB Slovakia: Rok Kódexu influencer marketingu · Mediaklik: Kódex influencer marketingu stanovuje jasné pravidlá

• EU consumer law prohibits hidden advertising, but the exact wording rules and enforcement are set country by country.
• This tool only checks the basics for other EU countries: is there a clear label, near the start, not buried in hashtags.
• Use the local-language word for “advertisement” where you can, and the platform’s paid-partnership tool.

Labels this tool treats as clear: Ad / Advert; Sponsored; Paid partnership; “Advertisement” in a local language.

Labels this tool won’t rely on: #sp, #spon, #collab, #partner, #ambassador.