In creator advertising, disclosure has lengthy been handled as non-compulsory by some influencers. Now, that free method could also be catching up with them.
A wave of lawsuits and watchdog scrutiny is digging into undisclosed or poorly labelled posts — and companies are taking word.
FTC pointers for sponsored posts have been in place for years, aiming to make sure transparency and defend customers from deceptive promoting. The rules had been up to date in 2023 partly to replicate the rise of creators as key gamers in digital promoting. They explicitly name out platforms like TikTok and Instagram, the place creators have a extra casual and direct reference to followers. Failure to reveal paid relationships on these platforms may end up in fines of over $50,000 for every particular person violation, with the legal responsibility largely falling on the advertisers.
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After updating its pointers, the FTC despatched warning letters in late 2023 and early 2024 to commerce teams and influencers over deceptive sponsored content material. Now, in 2025, watchdogs and litigious customers are choosing up the place the company left off.
Over the previous few months, no less than six corporations, together with retailer Revolve, have confronted class-action lawsuits looking for tens of millions in damages over undisclosed paid influencer posts. (An FTC consultant didn’t reply to a request for remark.)
“In case you’re going to promote for a product, and also you’re going to do it in a approach that feels natural, you simply must just be sure you are making clear to the buyer that you’re being paid to do that,” mentioned Jesse Saivar, an IP lawyer on the agency Greenberg Glusker. “The rules have loads of info and stuff, however finally, they’re simply pointers to offer individuals a greater understanding of finest make that connection clear.”
Because of the widespread nature of creators’ FTC disclosure violations, there aren’t any onerous numbers concerning the rise or total quantity of undisclosed model offers. However each creators and entrepreneurs mentioned that that they had noticed a current and important uptick on this exercise throughout each genres and platforms.
“The onerous half about FTC disclosures is that they may give the impression of brand-deal oversaturation. It’s not at all times the cleanest look when each few movies carry an advert tag, which may have an effect on how creators are perceived,” mentioned James Brownstein, the founding father of the influencer advertising technique agency Poster Little one. “However whereas the aesthetic may really feel damaging, disclosures are literally an indication of a sustainable creator financial system. We’d like extra fan communities to rally round content material with correct disclosures as a result of model offers are what hold creators creating.”
Why creators are flouting disclosure guidelines
Creators range wildly in how transparently they disclose paid partnerships to their audiences. Many creators, similar to Tradition Crave proprietor and operator Zach Williamson, need to disclose their partnerships, each to keep away from FTC fines and to sign to their viewers and different potential companions that they’re open for enterprise. However some creators consider disclosing paid partnerships may damage their viewers picture, in order that they flout the rules totally, in accordance with one influencer marketer acquainted with the follow, who spoke to Digiday on background to protect skilled relationships.
“The reasoning is that the algorithm punishes the content material when it’s disclosed — which is why we simply embody amplification on every little thing,” mentioned Danielle Wiley, the CEO of the influencer advertising company Sway Group, who mentioned that she had required all of her creators to reveal their paid partnerships even earlier than the FTC up to date its pointers. “You simply can’t depend on natural, and that’s the secret. I don’t assume the answer to that’s to get round it.”
Some creators are skipping FTC-mandated disclosures as a result of they consider labeling posts as paid adverts results in algorithmic suppression by platforms. Expertise managers Gaylen Malone and Courtney Bagy Lupilin each mentioned that their creators had began to cost larger charges for sponsored posts on platforms the place they’re attempting to develop their presence, because of the cooling impact that paid content material can have on total engagement, each sponsored and natural.
“If a creator is like, ‘I might do it, however that TikTok is just not going to carry out effectively, and I’ve been engaged on my TikTok,’ then with that context, I can take it again to the model and say we’ll must do some bit larger of a price to make it value it,” Malone mentioned. “Statistically, viewership goes on a decline for even their non-sponsored posts for a time period afterwards.”
Because of the open-ended nature of the FTC’s disclosure pointers, many creators, similar to Tradition Crave’s Williamson, have experimented with completely different language to steadiness between disclosing and avoiding making paid relationships apparent in a approach that turns off viewers. Williamson’s present method is to indicate paid posts by tagging the sponsor alongside a handshake emoji within the copy.
“I pitch it to corporations who need it undisclosed: ‘What if we do an emoji?’ Williamson mentioned. “And so they’re like, ‘that sounds good.’ So, I don’t assume it’s an enormous factor that they’re fearful about.”
Jeremy Whitt, government media director on the full-service company Hanson Dodge, mentioned that he had noticed a current uptick in undisclosed paid posts from creators involved over disclosures hurting their posts’ efficiency, however that working with creators who disclosed their offers transparently was a “non-negotiable” for his consumers.
“It’s simply not value slicing corners when model belief and platform integrity are on the road,” he mentioned. We’re not occupied with any potential repercussions because of the shared legal responsibility the model has with the creator.”
Groundswell of challenges in opposition to undisclosed influencer adverts
Creator advertising is booming in 2025, with advertisers like Unilever considerably rising their funding. However for individuals who don’t adhere to clear disclosure pointers, scrutiny is tightening.
On July 17, for instance, cleaning soap firm Dr. Squatch discontinued a few of its paid creator posts on TikTok after a problem by BBB Nationwide Packages’ Nationwide Promoting Division confirmed that the corporate was providing creators incentives and extra rewards past customary affiliate hyperlinks, which sponsored creators weren’t disclosing of their paid posts. Nationwide Promoting Division vp Phyllis Marcus informed Digiday that her group’s actions had been a part of a broader groundswell of challenges in opposition to undisclosed influencer adverts, together with a wave of sophistication motion lawsuits aimed toward deceptive creator advertising in 2025.
“You’ve obtained loads of regulatory, and in our case, self-regulatory, oversight on this space,” Marcus mentioned. “Numerous eyes on it, and loads of cops on the beat.”
Creator Lindsey Gamble agreed that regulatory scrutiny of influencer advertising is growing, however mentioned that he didn’t anticipate a significant crackdown in opposition to nearly all of creators. If and when the FTC decides to show extra consideration to the disclosure situation, he mentioned, the company is prone to focus its early efforts on the most important and most attention-grabbing manufacturers and creators.
“A number of years in the past, the FTC in all probability had higher issues to do. I nonetheless don’t assume they’ll actually crack down on the typical creator — except it’s associated to one thing within the monetary area or the well being area, the place it may be extra delicate,” Gamble mentioned. “For essentially the most half, I think about most creators are going to get away with it, but it surely’s a dangerous enterprise.”
