[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.adamriemer.me\/affiliate-marketing\/advertising-disclosures-seo\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.adamriemer.me\/affiliate-marketing\/advertising-disclosures-seo\/","headline":"Why Advertising Disclosures Are Important for SEO","name":"Why Advertising Disclosures Are Important for SEO","description":"You get a lot of mixed reactions when it comes to how a website should use an advertising disclosure. \u00a0You can read the FTC disclosure guidelines\u00a0here and you’ll find a Q&A from the FTC here. \u00a0Although not every blogger or influencer uses them\u00a0since the FTC goes after the brand and not the blogger,\u00a0Google threw a […]","datePublished":"2016-03-17","dateModified":"2016-03-17","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.adamriemer.me\/author\/adamriemer\/#Person","name":"Adam Riemer","url":"https:\/\/www.adamriemer.me\/author\/adamriemer\/","identifier":2,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fda62f751f2a6c2ec2b079fedff69720852e4a65633212ffb11832454c29160a?s=96&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fda62f751f2a6c2ec2b079fedff69720852e4a65633212ffb11832454c29160a?s=96&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Adam Riemer Marketing, LLC.","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.adamriemer.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/arm-logo-2.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.adamriemer.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/arm-logo-2.jpg","width":600,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.adamriemer.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/advertisingdisclosuresandseo.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.adamriemer.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/advertisingdisclosuresandseo.jpg","height":994,"width":1382},"url":"https:\/\/www.adamriemer.me\/affiliate-marketing\/advertising-disclosures-seo\/","commentCount":"5","comment":[{"@type":"Comment","@id":"https:\/\/www.adamriemer.me\/affiliate-marketing\/advertising-disclosures-seo\/#Comment1","dateCreated":"2016-08-16 11:56:34","description":"Thanks so much Adam! ~Gina","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Gina Gonzalez","url":"http:\/\/blogliving.net\/"}},{"@type":"Comment","@id":"https:\/\/www.adamriemer.me\/affiliate-marketing\/advertising-disclosures-seo\/#Comment2","dateCreated":"2016-08-15 06:30:07","description":"Hi Gina,\n\nThanks and great question!  There's two possible things I would try.\n\nThe first is to use the meta description from Yoast SEO or whichever plugin you're using.  This will at least guide Google and other engines to find your preferred one.  The second one is an old piece of code Google used to recommend called Google On and Google Off.  I have no idea if it still works, but if you see the disclosure showing up in your meta tags, try adding it, caching the site and then fetching the pages as Google.  \n\nIf those don't work, you can try placing it on an image at the top of the post so it isn't text.  However, this can have a small impact on SEO (nothing I'd worry about) and might not be compliant for the FTC.  You'd need to check with a licensed attorney to see.  \n\nI hope this helps,\n\nAdam","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"adam riemer","url":"http:\/\/www.adamriemer.me"}},{"@type":"Comment","@id":"https:\/\/www.adamriemer.me\/affiliate-marketing\/advertising-disclosures-seo\/#Comment3","dateCreated":"2016-08-14 22:23:11","description":"Hi Adam, I am concerned about SEO meta data in the SERPS picking up my FTC Disclosure for the post descriptions. I hope I worded that coherently. I am a new blogger and not good at SEO...yet!\n\nI added the FTC Disclosure for affiliate links to the top of my posts above the  in my single.php file. I would rather drop it down below my H1 & H2 tags, but I can't find a way to do it without inserting it into every post individually and placing the code lower in the single.php sends it to the bottom of my posts which will not do.\n\nDo you have any thoughts or advice about disclaimer placement at the affects on SEO as far as search engine results are concerned? Thank you! ~Gina","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Gina Gonzalez","url":"http:\/\/blogliving.net\/"}},{"@type":"Comment","@id":"https:\/\/www.adamriemer.me\/affiliate-marketing\/advertising-disclosures-seo\/#Comment4","dateCreated":"2016-03-21 12:46:33","description":"Hi Dave,\n\nNo problem.  The important thing for anyone else reading this to remember is to not panic.  Google just released their guidelines.  Yes, it is important to start finding a way to make sure you're disclosing and to begin adding disclosures to places you should have used them in the past, but they haven't started penalizing sites yet.  \n\nCreate a plan and start executing today, but don't stay up at night scared you'll be wiped tomorrow.  The guidelines are new so we have at least a small grace period to get compliant.   \n\nAdam","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"adam riemer","url":"http:\/\/www.adamriemer.me"}},{"@type":"Comment","@id":"https:\/\/www.adamriemer.me\/affiliate-marketing\/advertising-disclosures-seo\/#Comment5","dateCreated":"2016-03-21 12:38:26","description":"Thank for bringing this important topic up Adam. There are so many bloggers \/ Amazon Affiliates out there that don't really pay too much attention to what they are supposed to be doing in regards to the FTC's disclosure guidelines. \n\nNow that Google will be taking a closer look at this, it's very important that we get on board if we're running affiliate niche sites. \n\nBut everybody always thinks it won't happen to them of course....\n\nThanks for the heads up and I'll definitely be re-evaluating my own disclosures.","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Dave Nicosia","url":"http:\/\/ultimateazontheme.com"}}],"about":["Affiliate Marketing"],"wordCount":1846,"articleBody":"You get a lot of mixed reactions when it comes to how a website should use an advertising disclosure. \u00a0You can read the FTC disclosure guidelines\u00a0here and you’ll find a Q&A from the FTC here. \u00a0Although not every blogger or influencer uses them\u00a0since the FTC goes after the brand and not the blogger,\u00a0Google threw a new twist into disclosing relationships this week.Google released\u00a0a set of guidelines saying that you must follow the FTC advertising disclosure guidelines if you’re receiving products or reviewing them. \u00a0Although it’s geared towards bloggers and review sites, it is safe to assume that Google will update and include affiliates and other web properties that are being compensated. \u00a0This could mean coupon sites, loyalty sites and many other types of partners who use affiliate links but don’t disclose the relationship.How does this affect you and your site? \u00a0If you rely on Google traffic, you may get a manual penalty (these are very hard to get rid of) and that could wipe out your business. \u00a0This means your CPM ads will hurt when your organic traffic drops and your sponsorships could dry up with a lack of traffic.This post will go through:Where the issues are being talked aboutHow\u00a0Google can find out if you’re being compensatedWhy the placement of your disclosure is very important (even if you disagree with the FTC guidelines)What you\u00a0can do to prepare in case Google decides to start penalizing sites. \u00a0(It’ll probably be called the blogger or affiliate update)Because we are talking about disclosing, I want to disclose that I am not a licensed attorney, a lawyer and I cannot give any legal advice. \u00a0The following is just opinions about affiliate marketing, blogging and SEO. \u00a0You’ll need professional and licensed legal help if you want legal advice. \u00a0Where You Can Read MoreGoogle originally announced the blogger and review site advertising disclosure guidelines here. \u00a0Then large SEO sites and private communities started talking about it. \u00a0Across the board these communities are predicting manual penalties for sites that aren’t disclosing their relationships with vendors. \u00a0You can find some posts here, here and here.While the FTC is going after merchants and brands, Google is going after the blogger, affiliate and influencer.Why would Google do this? \u00a0There’s two reasons.Their job is to provide honest and unbiased results (Keep the jokes and comments to yourself).If the non-compliant influencer no longer has traffic, they can no longer influence. \u00a0This may start with a manual penalty on their website, but could also lead to social media profiles, posts and pages that get indexed from specific social sites and anywhere else you have undisclosed and compensated content. \u00a0This could destroy a large portion of income for affiliates, affiliate programs, bloggers and anyone else that relies on Google traffic.If Google is able to help ensure that the results showing up are compliant with the FTC, they can then be on the good side of the FTC and in theory provide a more accurate and unbiased results to their end users.How Can Google Find Out If You’re Being CompensatedThis is much easier than you think. \u00a0Remember, Google is not stupid, it’s continually updating the way it crawls the web and mapping similarities and patterns that it finds. \u00a0It looks at code and also visually at your website. \u00a0It has robots, spiders and human reviewers. \u00a0If you can be grouped with others by hitting a few of the robotic checkpoints, you can then be tagged for a manual review by a human.Here are a few ways this can happen.Disclosure banners – Google is able to see and map networks of disclosure banners. \u00a0This could be from a static template produced by a blog, an affiliate program, a blogger network, etc… \u00a0They’ve been mapping networks that use badges and banners for years.Placement of disclosures – Google reads code. \u00a0They look at how websites appear on many devices and will know where and how the disclosure appears. \u00a0If you try to hide it in the footer, in a drop down, etc… they will know. \u00a0If they feel that is not good enough or compliant, you may get a penalty. \u00a0This is why you want to think of where your disclosure is on mobile devices as well as desktops and tablets.Javascripts used to monetize direct links – If you use one of the many tools that provide you with a Javascript to make your direct links track as affiliate links, Javascript is readable and able to be mapped by Google. \u00a0 This may add you to a list or radar of sites that monetize or do product reviews. \u00a0It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use these, they are awesome for bloggers, it just means that you may want to add a compliant disclosure if you aren’t using them already.Cloaked links – Google crawls and follows links. \u00a0It reads the redirects and looks at the page you send the visitor too. \u00a0A cloaked link looks good for consumers, but Google can see what you’re doing and using. \u00a0If you’re using affiliate links or links with parameters so that you and the brands you work with can track their results, you can be mapped.Patterns of links and content for brands – Many larger brands, startups that are launching and others will do massive giveaways with a press release. \u00a0If you’re writing about and linking to these brands, think about what you’ll have in common with the sites that got the products for review. \u00a0Product names, post or mention dates, images or shots and other similar attributes can put you on the radar as being part of the PR list and needing a disclosure.Non text based disclosures may hurt you\u00a0– Some bloggers will use an image that has the disclosure because it’s easier to have automatically appear in\u00a0their templates. \u00a0The issue with this is that Google may not recognize it as a disclosure. \u00a0If they can’t, then you may get penalized even if you are compliant.Contest\/Giveaway software – If you host giveaways and contests, you can now be mapped by the software you’re using. \u00a0If the brands are the sponsors and you’re not no-following them, you may get mapped.URL parameters – If you’re part of a PR push and have a tracking parameter like campaign name, and some of the sites that also use these paramaters are found, you could get mapped and grouped with them. \u00a0The unique parameter is what gives it away and if\u00a0everything is do follow, you’re breaking Google’s guidelines. \u00a0Remember, parameters may not be natural looking links since they are normally given and placed by a brand. \u00a0A natural link is a direct link with no tracking pointing to a relevant page or resource within another site.Images – Google tries to identify what is on an image. \u00a0If a brand is doing unboxing videos and also providing creative with a professional shot, this can be mapable.Words – If you use words like ftc disclosure, advertising disclaimer, etc… you can be grouped in with others. \u00a0This is when you need to check your do follow vs. no follow on older posts where you are\/were compensated.There are a ton of other ways that you can get mapped or added to the list of sites that do reviews and are compensated. \u00a0Even if you don’t do paid reviews and everything is 100% your own, you have no real way to let Google know. \u00a0Google’s job is to index the web and create patterns. \u00a0That’s how SEO and their database works.If you associate yourself with a site that is doing reviews or become mapable for that group, you will want to consider adding compliant disclosures, even if you’re not doing paid reviews. \u00a0You could simply say that you are not being compensated or being given anything free. \u00a0Instead you bought it on your own meaning it is honest and unbiased.There will be a lot of room for errors with Google if they do penalties so you may want to be more proactive than reactive.Why the placement of your disclosure is very important (even if you disagree with the FTC guidelines)When it was just the FTC, you may have been more calm since it’s the brand that took the hit. \u00a0Now that Google is coming after you, you may want to be more serious about the placement and accuracy of your disclosures.The placement of your disclosure is important because Google looks at code and how it appears to the end user. \u00a0If you’re hiding it in the footer, below a post, etc… then you are going against what is written on the FTC website. \u00a0If Google decides this isn’t adequate for them either, now you are the one who will take the hit. \u00a0This is why\u00a0the placement and actual compliance is important.What you\u00a0can do to prepare in case Google decides to start penalizing sitesThis one is easy, get over your issues with disclosing your compensation model and begin using disclosures. \u00a0You can hire an internet attorney to help make sure it is compliant and also look for a reputable SEO firm to get an opinion if it should be good with Google’s new guidelines. \u00a0If you’re in any of the programs we provide affiliate management for, I’m always happy to help take a look from an SEO perspective.The next thing is to provide a clear and easy to understand disclosure stating the relationship at the very top of each blog post or page where you have compensated content. \u00a0This could include reviews, giveaways, monetized links, etc… \u00a0If you want to go a step further, on pages where you don’t have compensated content, say it’s your honest opinions and you were not compensated and will not be. \u00a0This is a bit extreme, but could also help your readers know what is and is not compensated.One last thing is to make sure you have a Google Search Console account. \u00a0By creating this and making sure your website is listed, you’ll not only have a lot more data about your blog\/website, but if you get a manual penalty, this is where Google will let you know about it. \u00a0 It’s free and only takes a couple of minutes.It will be interesting to see how Google responds to disclosures being visible or compliant. \u00a0There are a ton of large sites monetizing now, sites that have contributors who are being paid by brands and affiliate sites that do reviews who are not using disclosures. \u00a0Google has wiped out large sites before so we may see another round of algorithms coming out. \u00a0This could be a huge opportunity for smaller blogs and influencers to gain exposure in the SERPs as well as grow their brands."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Affiliate Marketing","item":"https:\/\/www.adamriemer.me\/affiliate-marketing\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why Advertising Disclosures Are Important for SEO","item":"https:\/\/www.adamriemer.me\/affiliate-marketing\/advertising-disclosures-seo\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]