Ad disclosure for partnerships

If you receive a share of an app's revenue, you are advertising it, even if you genuinely like the app. Advertising must be recognisable as such to viewers at first glance (section 5a(4) of the German Act against Unfair Competition (UWG), section 22 of the German Interstate Media Treaty (MStV), and the FTC rules in the USA). Without a disclosure, you risk formal warnings and fines, and the platforms may remove your videos.

The basic rules

• Label every post about an app in which you have a revenue share as advertising, e.g. with “Werbung” (advertising) or “Anzeige” (advertisement). According to case law, terms such as “Sponsored by”, “#ad” on its own or “in Kooperation mit” (in cooperation with) are often not sufficient in German-speaking countries.
• The disclosure belongs at the beginning: in the video itself (on screen or spoken) and at the start of the description, not hidden at the end or among hashtags.
• Say what it is about: “Ad: I get a share of Kassenbuch's revenue if you use my code.”
• No false promises: no made-up results, no promises of earnings and no health claims.

YouTube

• In YouTube Studio, tick the box under “Details → Paid promotion” for the video. YouTube then shows the notice “Includes paid promotion”.
• In addition, say or show at the start of the video that it is an advertisement, and put the disclosure at the beginning of the description.
• For Shorts: show the disclosure in the video and in the description.

TikTok

• When posting, turn on content disclosure and select “Branded content”. TikTok then shows “Paid partnership”.
• In addition, put the advertising label (e.g. “Werbung”) at the start of the caption.

Instagram

• Use the “Paid partnership” label and tag the app or its provider as a partner.
• In Stories, place the advertising label (e.g. “Werbung”) clearly legible at the top of the image.

Accounts newly created for an app

Some apps allow you to start a separate, new account for them (e.g. a TikTok account around the app). The same rules apply:

• Label every post as advertising, exactly as on your main account, even if the account bears the app's name or only posts about the app.
• Also state in the bio that the account is run in a paid partnership with the app, e.g. “Ad: account in partnership with Kassenbuch”.
• Add the account under Channels before the first post (even with 0 followers). This lets the posts be attributed to the partnership.
• Do not pose as an independent user and do not make up experiences.

The code and the link

State the code clearly and briefly explain that you receive a share of the revenue. The page behind your link also points this out to users.

This guide does not replace legal advice. If in doubt, it is better to label a post once too often than once too rarely.