Trust, Risk, and Regulated Communication
Affiliate Disclosure Statement
Explain commission relationships, covered links, tracking, price impact, editorial standards, placement, and commercial connection without obscurity.
Free editable Markdown · Publishers, commerce editors, and compliance teams ·
Accessible HTML preview
Blank template
The downloaded file contains the same fields in editable Markdown.
Relationship record
- Publisher/creator
- [Approved name]
- Merchant or network
- [Program]
- Covered content/links
- [Pages, modules, platforms]
- Qualifying action
- [Purchase, sign-up, lead, other]
- Compensation type
- [Commission, flat fee, tier, other]
- Reader price effect
- [Verified statement or Do not claim]
- Tracking details for review
- [Approved internal record]
- Product supplied or purchased
- [Material context]
- Ownership/other relationship
- [If any]
- Markets and dates
- [Scope]
Disclosure draft
- Short disclosure
- [Plain commercial connection]
- Detailed policy route
- [URL if used]
- Placement
- [Before links, module, opening, description]
- Editorial statement
- [Only verified governance]
- Link distinction
- [How affiliate links are identified]
- Locale version
- [Text/reviewer]
- Compliance owner
- [Role]
- Approval and version
- [Date/ID]
- Update trigger
- [Program, tracking, ownership, requirement]
Publication checks
- Disclosure explains how the publisher may benefit.
- Vague language and unexplained abbreviations are removed.
- Statement appears before or close to relevant links.
- Price-impact wording is verified.
- Editorial-independence claims match actual controls.
- Rankings and comparisons remain evidence-based.
- Mobile, email, social, and locale placements are reviewed.
- Merchant and content inventory has an owner.
How to use this template
- Inventory affiliate programs, merchants, networks, covered content, qualifying actions, markets, and platforms.
- Record compensation, tracking, price claims, ownership, product access, and editorial governance.
- Draft plain wording that connects a reader's action to possible commission.
- Obtain qualified compliance, editorial, privacy, platform, accessibility, and locale review.
- Verify live placement and maintain program, content, approval, and correction records.
Explain how the connection works
Name the publisher or creator, merchant or network where appropriate, and the event that can generate value: a click, purchase, sign-up, qualified lead, or later transaction. State whether the reader's price changes only if that is verified for every covered relationship. Record cookies or tracking periods for internal compliance review without turning the disclosure into unsupported privacy advice. Distinguish affiliate commission from sponsorship, free products, ownership, and ordinary advertising.
Protect editorial meaning
Document how products are selected, tested, compared, updated, and removed and whether commission rates influence coverage. Do not claim affiliate links have “no influence” unless governance and workflow support that statement. Apply the same evidence and correction standards to monetized and non-monetized products. Include material limitations, prices, plan versions, and suitable alternatives. A disclosure does not cure a misleading ranking or an unsubstantiated “best” claim.
Place and maintain the statement
Use a concise disclosure before or near the first affiliate link or recommendation, plus a detailed policy link if appropriate. Check mobile layouts, link lists, email, social, video descriptions, translated pages, and dynamically inserted commerce modules. Labels must remain visible rather than blending into low-contrast metadata. Maintain a current inventory of participating merchants and content, and re-review language when tracking, compensation, ownership, platform, or requirements change.
See the fields in context
Fictional example: gardening book list
Rowan Shelf and its affiliate program are invented. The disclosure is illustrative, not compliance advice.
- Connection: The fictional publisher may earn a commission if a reader buys through marked book links.
- Price statement: No price-impact claim is made until every invented merchant term is verified.
- Editorial control: Books are chosen from documented review criteria, but the page does not claim commissions are irrelevant without audit evidence.
- Placement: Disclosure appears before the first list item and in the email version above the links.
- Maintenance: A commerce editor removes expired links and rechecks titles, editions, prices, and relationship wording.
Frequently asked questions
Is a disclosure in the footer enough?
Often it is too distant from the recommendation. Use qualified guidance, but clear proximity helps readers understand the relationship before clicking.
Should every affiliate link be labeled?
Follow applicable review. A clear nearby disclosure plus consistent identification may be appropriate, but the relationship should never be hidden.
Can a page say affiliate links cost readers nothing?
Only when that exact statement is verified for all covered transactions and conditions. Otherwise omit or qualify it.
Does disclosure make a biased comparison acceptable?
No. Disclosure reveals the relationship; it does not replace fair criteria, evidence, accurate claims, or editorial accountability.