Pinterest affiliate disclosure: wording, placement, examples

Updated October 22, 2026 · 6 min read

The rule in one sentence

If you have a financial relationship with what you are recommending, say so, in words anyone understands, where people will see it before they act. That is the FTC's position, and Pinterest's guidelines point the same way.

What the FTC says

The FTC's Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers and its Endorsement Guides Q&A set out the rules. In plain words:

• Disclose any material connection: payment, free or discounted products, an affiliate commission, an employment or family relationship. The Q&A says affiliates should disclose the relationship clearly and conspicuously, and suggests "I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post."
• Put it with the endorsement. The closer the disclosure is to the recommendation, the better. A disclosure on a profile page, at the end of a post, behind a More link, or mixed into hashtags and links is likely to be missed. A hyperlinked DISCLOSURE or LEGAL button is "easily avoidable" and does not count.
• Use clear words. "Ad", "advertisement", "sponsored" and "paid link" are clear. "Affiliate link" on its own may not be understood by everyone. "Sp", "spon", "collab", a bare "thanks" or "ambassador" are not clear.
• Pictures and video need the disclosure in them, superimposed on the image or spoken and shown in the video, not only in the description.
• Platform tools are not enough on their own. Use them in addition to your own disclosure.
• Pins count. The Q&A says posting a product image on a photo platform such as Pinterest can convey approval, and that pinning as part of a sponsored campaign probably requires a disclosure.

What Pinterest says

Pinterest's Commercial and Branded Content Guidelines define a paid partnership as content that features or is influenced by a business partner for an exchange of value, and say paid partnerships must include a clear disclosure of the commercial nature of the content, either a hashtag such as #ad or the paid partnership label applied with Pinterest's tool. Creators in the European Economic Area must use whatever disclosure functionality Pinterest provides. For affiliates, the same guidelines ask you to be transparent about the commercial nature of your content and about your links and their behavior.

The paid partnership label. Pinterest's help center describes it as a tool in the Pinterest app: under a pin's advanced settings you toggle on the paid partnership label and tag one brand partner. The label shows at once; the brand's name appears when the brand approves the tag, and either side can remove it. It is designed for sponsored content with a named brand. It does not write an affiliate disclosure for you, and the FTC's view is that a platform tool is a supplement to your own words.

Where the disclosure goes on a pin

1. First or second sentence of the description. Pinterest's own specs say descriptions do not show in the home feed or search feed; they show when the pin is opened, so the top of the description is the first text a reader sees after the title. Keyword in sentence one, disclosure in sentence two, then the rest.
2. On the image, if the pin itself is the endorsement. A small "ad" or "paid link" in the overlay for sponsored pins and for direct affiliate pins where the description might not be read.
3. On the landing page, near the links. If the pin goes to your own page, the page needs its own disclosure at the top and near the product links, since the FTC's guidance treats separated disclosures as easy to miss.
4. In the video, for video pins: spoken or on screen, not only typed below.

Do not rely on the alt text, the board description, your bio or an About page.

Lines that pass

These are short, clear, and work as the second sentence of a description or as a line on a landing page.

1. "I earn a commission if you buy through this link, at no extra cost to you."
2. "Paid link: I get a small commission on purchases."
3. "This pin contains an affiliate link, which means I earn a commission on purchases."
4. "Ad. Sponsored by Acme; they sent me this product to try."
5. "I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post."
6. "Affiliate link. I earn from qualifying purchases."
7. "Sponsored: Acme paid me to share this. The opinions are mine."
8. "Thanks to Acme for the free product. I was not paid, but I did receive it free."

Lines that fail

Disclosure by pin type

The same words work everywhere. What changes is only where they sit, and the rule is always the same: with the recommendation, before the click.

Check a draft before you publish

Pin Doctor reads a draft title and description and flags an affiliate pin that has no disclosure, a disclosure that sits at the end, and a link that goes through a shortener. The disclosure checker goes deeper on the wording itself, grading the sentence against the FTC's clear-terms list and Pinterest's guidelines, and gives you a line to paste when yours falls short.

Amazon's wording

Amazon's operating agreement says you are responsible for disclosing on your site accurately and adequately and otherwise satisfying applicable legal requirements. Amazon's program policies have also required a specific identifying statement on sites that use Associates links. Copy the current wording from Associates Central into the page where your Amazon links appear, and keep the plain-language disclosure in your pin descriptions as well. The Amazon guide covers the rest of Amazon's rules.

A two-minute routine

Write your disclosure sentence once and keep it in a note. For every affiliate pin: keyword in sentence one, paste the disclosure as sentence two, check the link lands on the product with no shortener, and save. If a brand is involved, add the paid partnership label as well. The checker below reads a draft and tells you whether the disclosure is present, early, and clear.

Where to go next

• Pinterest affiliate marketing: the full guide
• Amazon affiliate links on Pinterest
• Pinterest affiliate marketing mistakes