How to disclose paid UGC on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube

By Oleksii · Updated 9 October 2026 · 7 min read

Quick answer. Every platform has its own disclosure control, and using it is not optional. A caption hashtag on its own does not satisfy the platforms, and in most markets it does not satisfy the advertising regulator either. Each one takes a few seconds and sits in the posting flow.

TikTok

Turn on Branded content in the post settings before you publish. TikTok then shows a "Paid partnership" marker on the video. It lives in the settings screen you pass through on the way to posting, not in the caption.

Flipping it after publishing does not always apply cleanly, which is why the habit worth building is checking it on the settings screen every time rather than remembering afterwards.

Instagram

Use the Paid partnership label, applied per post. Instagram ties it to professional accounts, so if the option is missing that is usually why.

It applies to the post it is on. Labelling a follow-up story does not cover the Reel the campaign is paying for.

YouTube

Tick paid promotion in the video details when you upload. YouTube shows a disclosure to viewers at the start of the video.

Writing "paid promotion" in the description is not the same thing and does not replace the checkbox.

Where the label goes wrong in practice

Applied after posting. On some platforms a label added later does not propagate to everyone who already saw the post. Apply it in the posting flow, not as a correction.

Applied to the wrong format. A story is not the Reel. A pinned comment is not the video. The label belongs on the piece of content the campaign is paying for.

Hidden behind "more". If the only disclosure is a hashtag at the end of a long caption, most viewers never see it. Early in the caption, or not at all.

Ambiguous wording. "Thanks to X" and "in collaboration with" are not clear statements that this is a paid advertisement. "Ad" and "paid partnership" are.

What a reviewer checks

Before a payout is approved here, the post is checked for the platform's own label alongside everything the brief required. It is a quick check and the most common single reason a submission comes back, which is frustrating because it is also the easiest to avoid.

If you realise after posting that the label is missing, apply it immediately and say so when you submit. A late label is better than none, and flagging it yourself is better than it being found.

Why the caption alone is not enough

Two separate sets of rules apply. The platforms require their own control because that is what drives the marker viewers see and what their systems can check. Advertising regulators require the ad to be identifiable as an ad before someone engages with it — which a hashtag buried under a "more" link arguably is not.

Using the platform control satisfies the first. Adding a clear #ad near the start of the caption, where briefs ask for it, covers the second. Doing both costs nothing.

What happens when you skip it

The platform can remove the post. If that happens the views stop, and on a per-view campaign the views are what you were being paid for — so the cost of forgetting lands on you, not on the brand. At review, a missing label is also grounds for rejection before any payout.

Gifted products and affiliate links

Disclosure is not only about cash. A product you were given to review, and a link you earn commission on, are both material connections in most markets and both need disclosing. The threshold is whether a viewer would want to know, and the answer is almost always yes.

Wording that is clear, and wording that is not

The platform label does most of the work, but the brief will often ask for wording too, and the test regulators apply is whether a viewer understands immediately that this is an advertisement.

Clear: Ad, Advert, Paid partnership with X, Paid promotion. These are unambiguous in any order and survive being read quickly.

Not clear: sp, spon, collab, thanks to X, gifted on its own, affiliate buried at the end, or an ambiguous emoji. Abbreviations fail because the viewer has to already know what they mean.

Position matters as much as wording. Put it at the start of the caption, not after three lines of copy and a block of hashtags, and keep it in the video's own captions where the brief asks for that.

Who is responsible when it goes wrong

Both parties are, in most markets, and that surprises creators who assume the brand carries it. The brand is responsible for the advertising it pays for; you are responsible for what you publish on your own account.

Practically, this means the decision is never only the brand's to make. If a brief asks you to leave a label off, the request does not transfer the liability — it just means you were asked. Apply the label and tell them you have.

Common questions

Does the platform label cover me on its own?

It covers the platform's own rules. Advertising regulators in several markets expect the disclosure to be clear to a viewer in the content itself, which is why briefs commonly ask for both the label and visible wording. Doing both takes seconds and removes the question.

Do I need to disclose if I was not paid in cash?

Yes, if you received anything of value — a free product, a discount beyond what the public gets, a commission on sales. The test is whether a viewer would want to know about the connection, and in all of those cases they would.

What if the brand asks me not to label it?

Decline. The obligation sits with you as the person publishing, the penalties land on you and the brand both, and a brand willing to ask for that is telling you what the rest of the arrangement will be like.

Does disclosure reduce my views?

This is the usual worry and the evidence for it is thin. Viewers recognise an advert within seconds whether or not it is labelled; what loses them is a video that is boring or that pretends to be something it is not. The label is not the problem.

Do I need to disclose an old post retroactively?

If it is still live and still promotional, add the label now. A late disclosure is better than none, and the platforms allow adding it after posting even though it does not reach everyone who already saw it.

The short version

• TikTok: Branded content toggle, in post settings
• Instagram: Paid partnership label, per post, professional account
• YouTube: paid promotion checkbox, in upload details
• Plus #ad early in the caption where the brief asks for it
• Gifted products and affiliate links count too

What else a brief asks for, and the UK rules specifically if that is your market.