Disclose the connection. Earn the trust.

1. When a disclosure is required

Disclose a material connection whenever you receive or may receive money, commission, free or discounted products, travel, gifts, access, employment, ownership, family benefit, or another thing of value connected to an endorsement. Disclose even when the Brand did not control your opinion and even when you believe your audience already knows the relationship.

2. Make it clear and hard to miss

• Place the disclosure with the endorsement, before or near the recommendation or affiliate link.
• Use plain language such as "Ad," "Sponsored," "Paid partnership with [Brand]," or "I may earn a commission if you buy through this link."
• Use the same language as the endorsement.
• Do not hide it only in a profile, terms page, footer, hashtag block, or "more" expansion.
• For images or stories, superimpose readable disclosure text.
• For video, disclose in the video and description; audio plus on-screen text is preferred.
• For live streams, repeat the disclosure periodically.

Vague terms such as "collab," "partner," "ambassador," "spon," "commissionable link," or a bare discount code may not tell a reasonable person that compensation or value is involved.

3. Tell the truth about experience and evidence

Do not claim to use, test, love, prefer, or achieve results from a product or service unless that statement is true. Do not make objective claims the Brand cannot substantiate. Health, safety, therapeutic, earnings, environmental, performance, and comparative claims require particular care and appropriate evidence. Program copy is not permission to exaggerate it.

4. Content rights

Use only media, music, trademarks, testimonials, names, likenesses, and claims you are authorized to use. Do not remove watermarks or rights notices. Respect the program's brand guide, creative expiration dates, geographic restrictions, and channel limitations.

5. Email and direct outreach

Commercial email must use accurate routing and sender information, a truthful subject line, required advertising identification, a valid postal address, and a working opt-out process. Opt-outs must be honored promptly and within the legally required period. Do not use harvested addresses, deceptive aliases, purchased lists without a lawful basis, or messages that misrepresent the Brand or Crown Affiliates.

6. Traffic and conversion integrity

Prohibited practices include self-referrals unless expressly allowed, cookie stuffing, forced clicks, invisible frames, bot or incentivized traffic not approved by the program, trademark impersonation, misleading domains, adware, spam, fake accounts, duplicate conversion attempts, and any method intended to manipulate attribution or commission records.

7. Brand responsibilities

Brands must give Affiliates accurate claims, current terms, approved assets, required disclosures, prohibited practices, and a contact for questions. Brands must monitor material Affiliate promotion, address known violations, and avoid instructing Affiliates to conceal the relationship or publish claims the Brand cannot substantiate.

8. Enforcement

Crown Affiliates may request correction, pause links, reject or remove content, reverse ineligible commissions, suspend a program or account, preserve evidence, notify an affected Brand or provider, or take other proportionate action. Serious fraud, rights abuse, safety issues, or repeated violations may result in immediate termination.

9. Practical disclosure examples

• Post: "Ad — Crown Affiliates may pay me a commission if you purchase through this link."
• Gifted product: "[Brand] gave me this product at no cost. These are my honest results."
• Video: visible and spoken "Sponsored by [Brand]" before the endorsement, plus the same disclosure near the link.
• Live stream: "This segment is sponsored by [Brand], and I may earn a commission" repeated at reasonable intervals.

10. Questions

Ask the Brand for program-specific guidance or contact contact@crownthrive.com. These standards provide platform rules and educational guidance; they do not replace advice from qualified legal or tax professionals.