What counts as a clear sponsored-post disclosure?
Short, plain words followers will understand, such as #ad, #sponsored, "Ad" or "Sponsored by". The FTC's guidance for influencers says the disclosure should be hard to miss: placed with the endorsement, not buried in a list of hashtags or hidden behind "more". It also says not to rely on a platform's paid-partnership label alone; use it as well as your own disclosure.
Are #sp, #spon or #collab enough?
The FTC's guidance treats abbreviations like #sp and #spon, and vague tags like #collab or #ambassador on their own, as likely to be unclear to followers. Use #ad or #sponsored instead, or alongside them.
What about gifted products?
A free product still counts as a connection to the brand, and the FTC's guidance says to disclose it. "Gifted" or "free product" says what happened. If the creator was also paid, that is a sponsored post and needs #ad or #sponsored.
Who is responsible for the disclosure?
Both the creator and the brand. The FTC's guidance says brands should tell creators to disclose and check that they do. On covari, every brief carries the disclosure requirement and creators confirm it before submitting a draft, so the brand can check the caption at the draft stage.
Read the FTC's own guidance: Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers. This page is a text check, not legal advice.