The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published guidance for content creators, advising them on how to ensure that endorsements on social media comply with consumer protection law. 

The guidance is aimed at addressing the phenomenon of hidden ads, something that the CMA is tasked with tackling under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. As the CMA explains, its guidance applies not only to formal agreements between brands and influencers, but also to more informal arrangements, including posing content about gifts or ‘freebies’. In all such cases, the CMA is clear that “all commercial content must be correctly labelled and clearly identifiable as an ad…all labels must be clear, prominent and easy to understand”. 

Importantly, the guidance states that tagging a brand in a post or using discount codes or affiliate links will not be sufficient. Furthermore, using ambiguous hashtags such as ‘#gift’ or ‘#collab’ should be avoided: either ‘#ad’ or a platform’s labelling tool should be used instead. 

The CMA also advises that it must be “immediately clear” that content is an ad, stating that “all promotional content should be labelled as advertising, and this must be obvious as soon as anyone engages with the content”. In practice, this means that audiences should not have to, for example, scroll down or select a link for more information in order to discover that content is an ad. 

The guidance does not just apply to working in collaboration with third parties. The CMA also points out that if an influencer owns (in full or in part) or is employed by or otherwise connected with a brand, this must be made clear to the audience should that brand be promoted on their social media account. The same follows for any promotion of brands owned by family members or friends. 

Helpful examples of posts that would likely be deemed acceptable are also included within the CMA’s guidance.  

To read the guidance in full, click here.