Influencer disclosure in Germany: the rules for gifted products
In Germany, a product you send a creator for free usually counts as a benefit, like a payment. If they post about it, the post must be labelled as advertising, with “Werbung” or “Anzeige” at the very start. And if they don’t, your brand can be the one that receives the cease-and-desist letter.
The rules in short
- A free product counts. If you send a product the creator may use or keep, the law treats it as consideration (a “Gegenleistung”), and the creator is presumed to have received it.
- The label is “Werbung” or “Anzeige”. The state media authorities ask for one of these words as the first word of the caption. “Bezahlte Werbepartnerschaft” at the start also works.
- English is not enough. The authorities say “ad”, “sponsored by” and “PR sample” are not sufficient.
- The brand is liable too. Under the Act against Unfair Competition (UWG), a claim against a violation by someone working for your business also lies against you.
- Enforcement is mostly private. Competitors and business associations send cease-and-desist letters (Abmahnungen) and go to court. The state media authorities supervise the media-law side.
The legal bases
Three sets of rules apply to influencer posts in Germany. They overlap, and the courts read them together.
| Rule | What it says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| § 5a (4) UWG | It is unfair not to make the commercial purpose of a business act clear, unless it is obvious from the circumstances. For a post that benefits another company, there is a commercial purpose if the creator receives or is promised payment or a similar consideration. Receiving consideration is presumed, unless the creator shows credibly that they received none. | gesetze-im-internet.de |
| UWG Annex, no. 11 (with § 3 (3)) | Always unlawful toward consumers: editorial content paid for by a business to promote sales, when the content or its look or sound doesn’t make that link clear. | gesetze-im-internet.de |
| § 6 (1) DDG (Digital Services Act, which replaced the Telemedia Act) | Commercial communications must be clearly recognizable as such, and the person on whose behalf they are made must be clearly identifiable. | gesetze-im-internet.de |
| Media State Treaty (MStV): § 8 and § 10 for video and audio, § 22 (1) for image and text posts | Advertising must be clearly recognizable and clearly separated from the rest of the content. The state media authorities (die Medienanstalten) supervise these rules. | Medienanstalten guide (PDF) |
Why a free product counts
On 9 September 2021, the Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof, BGH) decided three influencer cases (I ZR 90/20, I ZR 125/20 and I ZR 126/20), all brought by a business association. Its press release sets out the line:
- A post for another company needs a label if the creator received consideration for it. In the first case, a fitness influencer posted a raspberry jam with a tag of the maker. The maker had paid for the post, it wasn’t labelled, and the court found it unlawful.
- Without consideration, a post only needs a label if it is excessively promotional. The court spoke of praising a product “ohne jede kritische Distanz” (without any critical distance).
- A tag alone is not that excess. Tagging the brands in a photo doesn’t make a post advertising on its own. A link to the maker’s website, the court said, usually does.
The press release doesn’t discuss free products. The law that followed does. Since 28 May 2022, § 5a (4) UWG says a post for another company is commercial when the creator receives payment “oder eine ähnliche Gegenleistung” (or a similar consideration). The government’s explanatory memorandum (Bundestag printed paper 19/27873) says this includes commissions, products sent by the company that the creator may use or keep, press trips, equipment and covered costs. The creator merely hoping for something is not enough, and neither is the boost to their own reach.
For a seeding brand, this settles the usual case. A product you sent, which the creator keeps, is consideration. And because the law presumes consideration, it is up to the creator to show they got nothing.
What the media authorities ask for
The state media authorities publish a guide to advertising labels in online media (“Leitfaden der Medienanstalten: Werbekennzeichnung bei Online-Medien”, version of May 2025). It reflects how they supervise. The main points:
- Free products can be consideration. The guide names sent products (for example cosmetics or jewellery), covered travel costs and event invitations. Even without a contract, a post about a free product is advertising if the motivation for it isn’t entirely independent.
- The label is the first word. The guide recommends “Werbung” or “Anzeige” as the first word of a caption or info text, in clear, large enough, high-contrast type. “Bezahlte Werbepartnerschaft” placed at the start also works.
- Not enough: made-up words (“Infomercial”, “Advertorial”), abbreviations (“AZ”, “ad”) and foreign-language phrases such as “sponsored by” or “PR sample”.
- Visible at first glance. The label must show on every device, in the app and in the browser, without scrolling or expanding. A note that the whole account contains ads is not enough. Each ad post needs its own label, including each story slide.
- Discount codes and ad links. “Werbung” or “Anzeige” goes right next to the code or link. Affiliate links get an asterisk (*) and an explanation next to the link.
- Don’t label “just in case”. Labels such as “unbezahlte Werbung” on posts with no ad purpose weaken the meaning of the label, and the guide says to avoid them.
Video: the product’s role decides the label
For video (the guide names YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and Twitch), the broadcast advertising rules apply, so the label depends on how the product appears:
| How the product appears | Label |
|---|---|
| Main role: the video or a sequence is about the product | “Werbung” or “Werbevideo” on screen, clearly readable, for the whole video or the whole ad sequence. |
| Supporting role: shown or mentioned in passing | “Unterstützt durch Produktplatzierung”, “Unterstützt durch <Produktname>” or “enthält Produktplatzierung” at the start. For products received for free, only needed if the product, or all products from one brand together, is worth more than 100 euros. |
| Discount code, sale or where to buy shown in the video | Not a product placement: the video or sequence counts as advertising and needs “Werbung”. |
Platform labels
The guide says a platform’s own label can be the only label, if it uses the words “Werbung”, “Anzeige” or “bezahlte Werbepartnerschaft” and the other visibility rules for that format are met. A label in English, or one that doesn’t show at first glance, doesn’t meet that standard. How each platform’s label works is in our guide to the paid partnership label.
Why the brand is liable
German law doesn’t stop at the creator. Two parts of § 8 UWG matter to a brand that seeds products:
- § 8 (2): if an employee or an agent (“Beauftragter”) commits the violation within a business, the claims to stop it and to remove it also lie against the owner of that business.
- § 8 (3): the claims belong to competitors that sell similar goods to a not insignificant extent, to registered business associations, to qualified consumer associations, and to the chambers of commerce and crafts.
In practice, a claim usually starts with an Abmahnung: under § 13 UWG, whoever holds a claim should first warn the other side and offer to settle it with a cease-and-desist declaration backed by a contractual penalty. All three BGH cases above were brought by a business association. So the risk for a brand is less a regulator’s fine than a competitor or an association noticing an unlabelled post about your product. § 8 UWG has the full text.
What your brand should do
- 01
Put the label in the note that goes with the product
Write it out: “Werbung” as the first word of the caption, and “Werbung” on screen in videos about the product. Say that English “ad” or “PR sample” is not enough in Germany.
- 02
Ask for it even without a deal
A free product the creator keeps counts as consideration, with or without a contract. Don’t rely on “no obligation to post” to make a label unnecessary.
- 03
Cover codes and links
If you give a creator a discount code or an affiliate link, ask for “Werbung” or “Anzeige” right next to the code, and an asterisk with an explanation next to affiliate links.
- 04
Check every post your products appear in
Look for posts by the creators you gifted, tagged or not, and check that the label is the first word and visible without expanding the caption.
- 05
Follow up fast, and keep a record
When a label is missing or comes too late in the caption, ask the creator to fix it, and note what you asked and when.
Checklist for a gifted post
- The caption starts with “Werbung” or “Anzeige” (or “bezahlte Werbepartnerschaft”).
- The label is in German, not “ad”, “sponsored” or “PR sample”.
- It shows without tapping “more”, in the app and in the browser.
- In a video about the product, “Werbung” is on screen for the whole video or the whole sequence.
- Each story slide about the product carries its own label.
- A discount code has “Werbung” or “Anzeige” right next to it.
- The platform’s label, if used, says “Werbung”, “Anzeige” or “bezahlte Werbepartnerschaft”.
Paste a post link or a caption here to see how it reads under Germany’s rules.
- Clearly disclosedThe platform’s partnership label, the country’s ad word up front (“#ad” in the US), or a gift word next to the brand’s name where the country accepts one.
- Weakly disclosedA gift word without the brand (“#gifted”, “#pr”), a word the country doesn’t accept (“#ad” in Germany), or a clear one buried below where the caption is cut off.
- Not disclosedNothing in the caption says it was a gift or an ad.
This says what the post shows by the country’s words, not whether it’s legally enough: that also depends on how prominent the label is. See the rules by country
Pozto checks every gifted post like this, including what creators say and show in the video. Start free
How Pozto helps
Pozto watches the creators you gifted on TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts and finds the posts that show your product, tagged or not. For each post, it reads the caption for disclosure words and notes whether they come before the caption is cut off. It notes YouTube’s paid promotion flag and Instagram’s “Paid partnership” label where it can read them, and, for videos it checks, whether the creator said or showed the disclosure.
In Settings, under “Disclosure rules”, set “Grade posts by the rules of” to Germany. Pozto then counts “Werbung” and “Anzeige” (also as “#werbung” and “#anzeige”) and “bezahlte Werbepartnerschaft” as clear only when they come first in the caption. Later in the caption, they are weak. So are English labels such as “#ad” or “sponsored”, and gift words such as “geschenkt”, “PR sample” or “zur Verfügung gestellt”. In a video it checks, the creator saying or showing “Werbung” or “Anzeige” counts as clear.
Each post is graded clear, weak or none. Pozto doesn’t say whether a post is legally enough, but it shows you which posts to look at and which creators to ask for a fix, before a competitor finds them. Start free with up to 10 creators. For other countries, see influencer disclosure rules by country.
Questions
Does a gifted product have to be labelled as advertising in Germany?
Usually, yes. Since 2022, § 5a (4) UWG treats a similar consideration like payment, and the government’s explanatory memorandum says that includes products the creator may use or keep. The law presumes the creator received consideration unless they show otherwise.
Is “#ad” enough in Germany?
No. The state media authorities say abbreviations such as “ad” and foreign phrases such as “sponsored by” or “PR sample” are not enough. Use “Werbung” or “Anzeige” as the first word.
Does “Werbung” have to be the first word?
The media authorities’ guide recommends “Werbung” or “Anzeige” as the first word of the caption, readable at first glance without scrolling or expanding. A label at the end, or hidden among hashtags, risks being missed.
Is Instagram’s partnership label enough in Germany?
It can be the only label if it says “Werbung”, “Anzeige” or “bezahlte Werbepartnerschaft” and is visible at first glance, according to the media authorities’ guide. A label in English doesn’t meet that.
Can a brand be held liable for an influencer’s unlabelled post?
Yes. Under § 8 (2) UWG, claims for a violation by an employee or agent of a business also lie against its owner. Competitors and business associations can bring them, usually starting with an Abmahnung.
What is the 100-euro rule?
It applies to video and audio. If a product received for free only appears in passing, a short note such as “Unterstützt durch Produktplatzierung” at the start is needed only when the product, or all products from one brand, is worth more than 100 euros. If the product is the focus, the post needs “Werbung”.
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