FTC compliance — disclosure done right

If you're going to promote MoonFactory and earn a commission for it, you have to tell people you're going to earn that commission. This isn't a MoonFactory rule — it's the law in the US, and the equivalent applies in most other countries (UK, EU, Australia, Canada, India, and others all have similar rules).

This guide walks you through what to disclose, where to put it, what good disclosure looks like, and what happens if you don't comply.

Why disclosure matters

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requires that anyone who's paid to recommend a product clearly tells their audience about that financial relationship. The reasoning is straightforward: people weighing your recommendation deserve to know whether you're being paid for it.

This isn't paperwork. The FTC has actively enforced disclosure rules against influencers, bloggers, podcasters, and brands. Penalties can run from warning letters to substantial fines — and beyond the legal risk, undisclosed affiliate links destroy audience trust the moment they're discovered.

Outside the US, similar rules apply: the UK Advertising Standards Authority enforces clear marking of commercial content, the EU's Digital Services Act and consumer protection laws require disclosure, and most countries with mature consumer protection regimes have an equivalent.

The good news: doing it right is genuinely simple. A short, clear sentence in the right place is all you need.

What you have to disclose

The core thing to disclose is the material connection — the fact that you earn money or other compensation when someone signs up through your link.

You don't need legal jargon. You need clarity. A reasonable person reading or listening to your content should understand that you have a financial interest in them clicking your link.

You don't have to disclose:

The exact percentage you earn
The dollar amount
Specific terms of your agreement with MoonFactory

You do have to disclose:

That you earn a commission, or are paid, or are an affiliate, or are sponsored — some clear word that signals the financial relationship
That this happens when people sign up via your link
This information has to be visible before or alongside the recommendation, not buried later

Where to place disclosures

Blog posts

Put the disclosure at or near the start of the post, before any affiliate links. A short callout box or italicised line works well.

Don't put it at the end of a long post — by the time someone scrolls past your affiliate link to find it, you've failed the rule.

Disclosure goes in the post itself, not just in your bio.

On Twitter/X: in the tweet, not just in your profile.
On Instagram: in the caption, not just in your bio link.
On LinkedIn: in the post body, not just on your profile.
On TikTok: in the on-screen text or caption, not just in your bio.

Hashtags like #ad or #affiliate work as disclosure when they're visible without expanding hidden text. They don't work if they're at the very end of a long stack of unrelated hashtags where they'll be cut off.

For platforms with a "paid partnership" or "branded content" tag, use that too — but don't rely on it as your only disclosure, because it's not always visible everywhere your post appears.

Videos

Two places, both required:

Verbally at the start of the relevant section — "By the way, I'm an affiliate partner with MoonFactory and I earn a commission if you sign up through my link in the description."
In writing in the description, near the affiliate link itself.

Don't bury the verbal disclosure 15 minutes into a 20-minute video. If MoonFactory comes up in the first 5 minutes, the disclosure goes in the first 5 minutes too.

Podcasts

Same as videos minus the visual. Verbal disclosure at the start of the segment, and a written disclosure in the show notes near the link.

If you have a sponsorship intro at the top of every episode, that's a good place — but it has to specifically mention MoonFactory and the affiliate relationship, not just say "today's episode is sponsored."

Email and newsletters

Near the affiliate link itself. A short sentence right above or below the link works perfectly.

Don't rely on a generic "this newsletter contains affiliate links" line at the very bottom of the email — it's too far from where the action happens.

Direct messages and one-to-one conversations

If you're recommending MoonFactory in a DM, an email, or a one-to-one conversation — yes, disclosure still applies. You can keep it casual: "Heads up, I'm an affiliate, so I get a kickback if you sign up through this link."

Good examples

Here are disclosure patterns that meet the standard:

"I'm an affiliate partner of MoonFactory and earn a commission if you sign up through my link."

Direct, complete, hard to misread.

"This post contains affiliate links. I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you."

Common pattern; works well at the top of blog posts. The "no extra cost to you" line isn't required but it's accurate (commissions come out of MoonFactory's revenue, not added to the client's bill) and it heads off a common reader question.

"#ad #affiliate"

Acceptable on social media as a minimum, but more context is always better. Pair it with a sentence whenever you reasonably can.

"Heads up: this is sponsored — I'm a MoonFactory affiliate."

Good for casual social or newsletter copy.

"I work with MoonFactory and earn a commission on signups through this link, but I'd recommend them either way — I use them for my own work."

Excellent — combines the disclosure with personal context that reinforces the recommendation's credibility.

What not to do

Don't hide the disclosure. Tiny grey text at the bottom of a post, footer-only mentions, hidden hashtag stacks, "click here for details" links — these all fail.
Don't make false claims. "MoonFactory will quadruple your traffic in a month" isn't true and isn't ours to claim. Stick to what you can actually back up.
Don't use deceptive click-bait. "You won't believe how this one tool changed everything" with no substance behind it falls under deceptive advertising.
Don't hide the affiliate nature in casual contexts. A friend asking your opinion deserves to know you'll get paid if they sign up. Casual doesn't mean exempt.
Don't disclose only to some readers. If your post is republished, your disclosure has to come with it. Don't put disclosure on your blog version and skip it on the syndicated version.

How we check compliance

We run a periodic disclosure audit — every Sunday at 04:00 UTC — that samples affiliate-driven referrers from the previous week, fetches the page where your link lives, and scans for disclosure language.

This is automated, so it's a heuristic rather than a perfect judge. The system looks for words like "affiliate," "commission," "paid partnership," "sponsored," "material connection," "compensation," "endorsement," #ad, and #sponsored. If none of those appear on the page, the page is flagged as potentially missing disclosure.

A human reviews flagged pages before any action is taken — we know automated checks miss nuance, and we'd rather under-react than wrongly accuse anyone. Audit results are kept as evidence for review, not as legal determinations.

Enforcement

If we find your disclosure isn't where it needs to be, the response is graduated:

First issue — warning with guidance

You'll get an email pointing to the specific page or post that triggered the flag, an explanation of what was missing, and concrete suggestions for fixing it. No commission impact, no account changes — this is an educational nudge.

Most first-time issues come from honest oversight. Fix it, reply to confirm, you're done.

Repeated issues — account paused

If we keep flagging the same affiliate, your account moves to a paused state:

Your tracking links keep working — referrals still attribute to you.
Commissions continue accruing.
Payouts are held — no money moves out until the issues are resolved and your account is reactivated.

This gives you a clear incentive to fix things while preserving everything you've earned.

Serious or sustained non-compliance — termination

If non-compliance is serious (deliberate disclosure-hiding, repeated violations after multiple warnings, or behaviour that creates legal risk for MoonFactory), the account can be terminated. On termination:

Commissions that haven't cleared are forfeited.
Already-cleared commissions may still be paid out at MoonFactory's discretion.
You'll receive an email with the reason and effective date.

Termination is a last resort. Most affiliates never come close — getting flagged once is unusual, getting flagged repeatedly is rare, and getting terminated for disclosure failures is very rare. The path is graduated specifically so accidental misses don't lead to disproportionate consequences.

Terms acceptance

The MoonFactory affiliate program terms (including the disclosure rules) can be updated as laws and best practices evolve. When the terms change in a material way, you'll be asked to review and accept the new version when you next sign in.

Your latest accepted terms version and the date of acceptance are recorded on your account. If you don't accept updated terms, you can keep using the portal in a limited capacity to manage and pay out existing commissions, but you won't be able to earn new ones until you accept.

A practical checklist

Before you publish anything that promotes MoonFactory, ask:

Is there a disclosure on this piece of content?
Is it visible without scrolling, expanding, or clicking through to a separate page?
Does it clearly say I earn a commission (or am sponsored / am an affiliate / etc.)?
Is it positioned before my recommendation or affiliate link, not after?
On video and audio, is it spoken near the start of the segment, not just shown in description text?
On social media, is it in the post itself, not just in my bio?

Tick all six and you're solidly compliant.

Where to go next

Tracking guide — your tracking links
Dashboard guide — checking your performance
FAQ — common compliance questions

Need help? Email us at hello@moonfactory.dev or open a support request from your dashboard.