What Changed in the 2023 FTC Revision
The June 2023 update modernized the Endorsement Guides for influencers, defined 'clear and conspicuous,' and expanded what counts as an endorsement.
On June 29, 2023, the FTC announced the first substantive revision to the Endorsement Guides since 2009. The update modernizes the Guides for a landscape dominated by social media, influencer marketing, and manipulated reviews. If you learned the rules years ago, several points have changed in ways that directly affect affiliates.
What changed
- A formal definition of “clear and conspicuous.” The standard is now written into the Guides, and the FTC clarified that a platform’s built-in disclosure tool may not, by itself, be an adequate disclosure.
- An expanded definition of “endorsement.” It now expressly covers fake reviews, virtual or AI-generated influencers, and tagging a brand in social media, which can itself be an endorsement.
- A new principle on review manipulation. Procuring, suppressing, boosting, organizing, or editing reviews to distort consumer perception is addressed directly.
- Explicit treatment of incentivized and employee reviews and fake negative reviews of competitors.
- Clarified liability for intermediaries. Advertising agencies, PR firms, and review brokers can be liable, not just the advertiser and the endorser.
- Special concern for child-directed advertising.
Why it matters to affiliates
Two changes are especially relevant. First, relying on a platform’s “paid partnership” toggle alone is no longer safe. Second, if you tag or link a brand you have a relationship with, that tag is an endorsement — and it still needs its own disclosure of the connection.
The companion rule
Alongside the 2023 revision, the FTC proposed a binding trade rule that became final in 2024: the Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials. Unlike the Guides, that rule carries civil penalties directly. See the Fake Reviews Rule.
Practical response
Review your standard disclosure language and placement against the current clear-and-conspicuous standard, stop relying on platform toggles as your only disclosure, and make sure any brand tags in monetized posts are accompanied by an explicit statement of the relationship.
Authoritative sources
Last reviewed July 2026. This page is general educational information, not legal or tax advice.