An affiliate disclosure is a clear, visible statement that the publisher earns a commission when readers sign up or buy through links on the page. Consumer-protection and advertising rules in most major markets require that material connections between a promoter and the brands it recommends be disclosed so the audience can weigh the recommendation knowing it is commercially incentivised.
Definition
An affiliate disclosure is a clear, visible statement that the publisher earns a commission when readers sign up or buy through links on the page. Consumer-protection and advertising rules in most major markets require that material connections between a promoter and the brands it recommends be disclosed so the audience can weigh the recommendation knowing it is commercially incentivised.
The disclosure must be plain, placed where a reader will see it before acting on the links, and not buried in a footer or hidden behind another click.
For gambling content this sits on top of the sector's own advertising rules. A page that reviews or ranks operators is advertising, the affiliate is a commercial party, and several regulators and codes expect both the advertising nature of the content and the affiliate relationship to be evident.
Disclosure does not make weak or misleading content acceptable; it is a baseline honesty requirement that accurate, balanced content still has to meet.
In context
For an iGaming affiliate, good practice is a short disclosure near the top of any page with operator links or ranked lists, in the site's normal text style, stating plainly that the site may earn commission and — ideally — how that does or does not affect rankings. A site that ranks operators should be able to explain its methodology; "we may be paid" plus an opaque top-list invites the suspicion that the order is bought.
Where a specific placement is paid for position (a tenancy or fixed-fee slot rather than performance commission), that should be distinguishable from editorially ranked entries.
The disclosure requirement also applies off the main site. Social posts, videos, streams, email and messaging-channel promotions each need their own disclosure at the point of the recommendation, not only on a linked landing page, and platform-native tools ("paid partnership" labels, #ad) are often expected in addition to a written line.
For operators running affiliate programmes, requiring and monitoring affiliate disclosure is part of their own compliance: regulators have held operators responsible for affiliates that promoted them without disclosing the relationship or the advertising nature of the content. Treating disclosure as a normal, permanent part of the page rather than a legal afterthought is the low-cost way to stay on the right side of this.
Worked example
An affiliate adds a one-line disclosure below the H1 on every review and toplist page, links to a methodology page explaining how operators are assessed, and marks the single paid tenancy slot on its casino list as "Sponsored" distinct from the ranked entries. Its YouTube reviews carry both a spoken disclosure and the platform's paid-partnership label.
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