Branded Content & Sponsorship Disclosure

People should be able to tell when money, products, services or other commercial relationships have influenced the content they are viewing.

Media.com allows people and organizations to publish sponsored, branded and commercially supported content. These relationships are a normal part of publishing, journalism, entertainment and the creator economy.

What matters is transparency.

When someone has received something of value, has a commercial relationship with a brand, or may benefit financially from a recommendation, that relationship must be made clear to the audience.

Our goal is simple: commercial influence should be visible, not hidden.

You must disclose a commercial relationship when something of value has influenced, commissioned, supported or may benefit from your content.

This includes:

• payment or sponsorship;
• free or discounted products or services;
• travel, accommodation or hospitality;
• commissions or affiliate arrangements;
• ambassador or endorsement agreements;
• employment, ownership or investment relationships;
• prizes, incentives or other benefits; and
• any other relationship that could reasonably affect how an audience understands your recommendation or content.

People should not have to investigate whether content is sponsored.

Disclosures must be:

• easy to notice;
• easy to understand;
• displayed with the relevant content;
• made before or at the point where the commercial message appears; and
• appropriate for the format being used.

Do not hide disclosures at the end of a long description, behind a link, amongst unrelated hashtags or somewhere users are unlikely to see them.

Where Media.com provides a branded content or commercial relationship field, you must use it.

Depending on the relationship, Media.com may display labels such as:

• Paid Partnership with [Brand]
• Sponsored by [Brand]
• Gifted by [Brand]
• Affiliate Relationship
• Commercial Relationship

Using a platform disclosure does not remove the need for an additional disclosure within the content where one is necessary to make the relationship clear.

Disclosures should describe the relationship in language ordinary people can understand.

Good examples include:

• "Sponsored by..."
• "Paid partnership with..."
• "Advertisement"
• "I was paid by..."
• "Product provided by..."
• "Gifted by..."
• "I may receive a commission if you purchase through this link."

Avoid vague expressions such as:

• "sp"
• "spon"
• "collab"
• "partner"
• "thanks to"
• "ambassador"

unless the commercial nature of the relationship is also made clear.

If you may earn money or receive another benefit because someone clicks a link, purchases something or takes another action, disclose that relationship.

The disclosure should appear close to the relevant link, recommendation or call to action.

A sponsorship does not permit misleading claims.

You must not:

• claim to have used a product you have not used;
• misrepresent your experience;
• make claims you know are false;
• make unsupported factual claims;
• present scripted opinions as genuine personal opinions when they are not; or
• conceal material information that would make an endorsement misleading.

Brands and sponsors must not require publishers to make false or misleading statements.

Sponsored content should not be presented in a way that deliberately makes people believe it is independent editorial content.

Publishers remain free to produce commercially supported journalism, interviews, videos, articles, podcasts and other content, but the commercial relationship must be apparent.

Different formats may require different disclosures.

For example:

The commercial relationship should be visible on or alongside the video.

Disclose the relationship clearly at or before the sponsored portion.

Include an audible disclosure where visual disclosure alone would not adequately inform the listener.

Place the disclosure prominently near the beginning or relevant commercial content.

Disclose sponsorship at the beginning and again where reasonably necessary during longer broadcasts.

Place disclosure near relevant recommendations or links.

Sponsored and branded content remains subject to all Media.com Rules of Engagement and policies.

Payment does not make otherwise prohibited content acceptable.

Advertisers, sponsors and publishers must not use branded content arrangements to circumvent Media Ads requirements, restricted-content rules, verification requirements or other platform protections.

Both the publisher and the sponsoring party may be responsible for ensuring that a commercial relationship is properly disclosed.

Media.com may add, correct or require a disclosure where we believe the commercial nature of content is not sufficiently clear.

Repeatedly hiding sponsorships or misleading audiences about commercial relationships may result in restrictions on publishing, monetization or use of Media.com.

Media.com is designed around source, identity and accountability.

Commercial content can still be useful, credible and worth watching or reading. But audiences should know the context in which it was created.

People should be able to see who is speaking, where content came from and when commercial interests are involved.

That transparency helps people make their own informed judgments about what they see on Media.com.