Advertising Disclosures in Online Media
Ever since influencer marketing has become a relevant form of advertising, there has been discussion about proper advertising disclosure on social media. Setting aside all the technical details, a simple basic rule applies: Anyone who receives compensation from a company for a post about a product or service is generally engaging in advertising and must label it as such.
Nevertheless, situations repeatedly arise in which it is unclear whether—and, more importantly, how—a post or video must be labeled as advertising. In 2025 alone, the State Media Authority of North Rhine-Westphalia reviewed 496 social media profiles and sent out 232 warning letters due to insufficient advertising disclosures. As a rule, these warning letters led to a swift correction of the advertising disclosures by those responsible.
Advertising Disclosure Protects Consumers
Knowing when an influencer, blogger, or editor is expressing their own opinion and when they have been paid for a statement is a fundamental prerequisite for users to form their own opinions freely. Those who provide media content therefore have a duty to ensure that media users can distinguish editorial content from advertising and immediately recognize promotional content as such. The clear separation of promotional and editorial content is regulated in the State Treaty on Media (MStV) (Section 22(1), Section 74 in conjunction with Section 8(3) MStV).
On social media platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, or Facebook, the issue of labeling is particularly contentious. Here, a single profile may contain private, editorial, and promotional content. Such profiles suggest a sense of closeness and foster a greater level of trust between users and content providers than is the case with traditional commercials. Children and adolescents, in particular, therefore often place more trust in influencer marketing than in traditional advertising.
Disclosure Requirement
This makes it all the more crucial that advertising be clearly recognizable as such. The law therefore mandates disclosure on the Internet (Section 22(1) MStV).
As a general rule, the disclosure must be clear and easily visible to the user. Users should have no difficulty distinguishing editorial content from advertising content. As simple as this basic rule is, questions still arise time and again. Where exactly should the label be placed? What terms may be used for this purpose? How should I handle affiliate links? These questions are addressed in the media authorities’ guidelines on advertising labeling in social media platforms (the so-called “labeling matrix”).
Competition Law in Influencer Marketing
In recent years, cease-and-desist letters sent by the “Verband sozialer Wettbewerb e.V.” to influencers and the resulting court rulings have sparked much debate. The association bases its cease-and-desist letters on competition law (the Unfair Competition Act), which takes a somewhat different view of the concept of advertising than media law. According to the association, links and brand tags should always trigger a disclosure requirement—regardless of whether there is any consideration involved. Court rulings have varied widely and, unfortunately, have not yet led to a fundamental clarification of these uncertainties.
Labels such as “#ad,” “#sponsored by,” or “#powered by” on Twitter or Instagram may not be sufficient to clearly identify a post as advertising. The media regulatory authorities provide tips and guidance on clear labeling on the major platforms in their labeling matrix.
The rule of thumb is: Advertising must be clearly recognizable as advertising at first glance.