Miles Insights is reader-supported. This post contains affiliate links, and I may earn a small commission (at no extra cost to you) if you sign up or buy through them. I only recommend tools I actually use.
Somewhere between “just put the disclosure in the caption” and “say the whole legal sentence out loud twice,” most Amazon Influencer creators land on a disclosure practice that’s really just a guess. It usually works, until a video gets flagged, and then you’re trying to figure out, after the fact, what was actually required.
Here’s what the FTC and Amazon’s own Operating Agreement actually say, separated from the third-party advice that’s more cautious than the rule requires (or, in some cases, not cautious enough).
The two rules you’re actually complying with
There are two separate requirements stacked on top of each other, and creators often only know about one:
1. Amazon’s own requirement. The Associates Program Operating Agreement requires you to clearly and prominently state “As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases” on your site or wherever Amazon authorizes use of your content. This is Amazon-specific language, a generic “affiliate links below” disclosure does not satisfy it. It has to be that sentence, or close enough that it’s unmistakably the same statement.
2. The FTC’s requirement. Separately, the FTC’s Endorsement Guides (16 CFR Part 255) require that any material connection between you and a brand, including earning a commission, be disclosed clearly and conspicuously, in the same medium as the recommendation. If you’re recommending a product in video, the disclosure has to be in video, not buried in a description box underneath it.
Both rules point to the same practical outcome: the disclosure needs to be visible (or spoken) inside the video itself, not just attached to it.
What “clearly and conspicuously” actually means
This is where most confusion comes from, because neither the FTC nor Amazon publishes one universal number for text size or duration. What the FTC guidance does say is specific enough to act on: a visual disclosure should, by its size, contrast, placement, and the length of time it stays on screen, stand out enough that it’s easily noticed, read, and understood, accounting for how much time viewers actually have to look at it and how much else is competing for their attention on screen.
In plain terms: a disclosure that flashes for half a second in small gray text over a busy background does not meet the bar, even if it technically appeared. A disclosure that’s legible, on screen long enough to actually read once, and not fighting for attention with other on-screen text does. Neither the FTC nor Amazon’s own pages specify an exact minimum second count, any guide that quotes you a hard number (e.g., “must appear for exactly 3 seconds”) is asserting a best practice, not quoting a published rule. Treat those numbers as reasonable defaults, not law.
What actually needs to be on screen
| Situation | What’s required |
|---|---|
| You’re reviewing a product and linking to it as an Amazon Associate | “As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases” (Amazon’s exact language), plus a disclosure of the material connection, which this statement generally covers for the affiliate relationship itself |
| You received the product free or discounted for the review | A separate disclosure of that fact, “As an Amazon Associate…” does not cover a free-product relationship on its own; the FTC treats “I earn commission” and “I got this for free” as two different material connections |
| The video is spoken, not text-heavy (e.g., a talking demo with no on-screen captions) | The disclosure should be spoken too, early enough that a viewer hears it before deciding to act on the recommendation, text-only disclosure doesn’t satisfy an audio-only recommendation |
| The video gets reposted to another platform (Reels, TikTok, YouTube Shorts) | The disclosure needs to travel with it, a disclosure that only existed in the original Amazon storefront upload doesn’t carry over automatically if you re-cut or re-export for another platform |
The mistakes that actually cause problems
- Disclosure only in the caption or bio. This satisfies neither rule if the recommendation itself happens in the video, the FTC is explicit that the disclosure has to be in the same medium as the claim.
- Wrong wording. Amazon’s requirement is for its specific sentence. “Affiliate link” or “sponsored” alone doesn’t meet Amazon’s Operating Agreement language, even if it satisfies the FTC’s broader material-connection standard.
- Disclosure present but functionally invisible, tiny font, low contrast against a busy background, on screen for a fraction of a second. Technically “present,” practically undisclosed, and the kind of thing that gets flagged on review.
- Free-product videos treated like affiliate-only videos. If you got the unit for free from a brand (including through Creator Connections campaigns), that’s a second disclosure obligation, not a substitute for the affiliate one.
Fixing it without re-shooting
If a video gets flagged for a disclosure issue, you don’t need to re-film, you need to add or fix the on-screen text and re-export. That’s a straightforward edit if you catch it before upload, and it’s exactly the kind of fix ReviewCut automates: it burns in the “As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases” disclosure at a legible size and duration as part of the same pass that finds PII and tightens your dead air, so you’re not solving three separate problems in three separate tools.
Your first finished review is free, upload the clip, get back a version with disclosure burned in, PII checked, and the edit tightened, no card required. After that it’s a Founding Member plan at $15/mo or $120/yr (first 25 members only), available now as a real download on Windows and Mac. → Try ReviewCut free on your next video
The bottom line
Two rules, one practical outcome: the disclosure has to live inside the video, be legible, and be readable in the time you give someone to see it, and if you took a free product, that’s a second disclosure, not the same one twice. Neither Amazon nor the FTC hands you an exact stopwatch number, so treat the common “3 seconds minimum” advice as a safe default, not gospel. Get the wording, placement, and duration right once, and you stop losing otherwise-good videos to a fix that takes five minutes. Get your first fix free.