Landing page software disclosure policy and workflow

A landing page software disclosure policy should tell the publishing team what relationship or method must be disclosed, where the notice belongs, which evidence supports it and when the page must change.

This is a working procedure, not legal advice, and no live disclosure has been tested here. A qualified UK advertising, consumer, data-protection, IP and relevant sector reviewer should examine the final page and its acquisition context.

What to take away

Create one disclosure record

Open a record for each page and complete:

Page and version: [URL] | [version] | [intended audience] | [release date]

Relationship or method: [advertising] | [affiliate] | [sponsorship] | [sample] | [review] | [research] | [AI assistance] | [other]

Exact fact to disclose: [who provided money, access, material or influence; what work occurred]

Evidence: [agreement, invoice, permission, research protocol, model-use log, source or correction record]

Owner and reviewer: [editorial owner] | [qualified reviewer] | [approval date]

Placement: [before headline, beside claim, near call to action or other justified location]

Trigger and update route: [relationship, evidence, method, page or rule change] | [person who can pause and amend]

Render evidence: [desktop and mobile capture] | [date] | [reviewed page state]

Connected versions: [advert, partner page, email, experiment or translated variant] | [withdrawal owner]

For lead-capture software, record what the form promises in exchange for an email address, where the lead goes next and whether follow-up marketing is optional. If personal data is collected, the UK GDPR transparency information required by Article 13 must be available when the data is obtained; the ICO is the UK data-protection regulator. Check PECR as well as the UK GDPR for electronic marketing.

A completed record, using placeholder values:

An empty evidence or owner field means the record is not finished.

The record above is a fictional placeholder example, not evidence of an actual page or a live test. Here is a separate worked example with usable wording:

A publisher uses Unbounce to build an accounting-software comparison page with a lead-capture form offering a downloadable checklist. Before the comparison claims and form call to action, the page says: “Some links on this page are affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you buy through them. This does not affect the price you pay.”

The form says: “Enter your email to receive the checklist. We will use your address to send it.” Any separate marketing opt-in is optional and unticked, with the privacy information linked at the point of collection. If AI helped draft the page, a model notice is: “AI assisted in drafting this page; a human editor checked the claims against the evidence.” Use that wording only if it accurately describes the work.

If an A/B test moves the notice, capture and review both rendered versions on desktop and mobile. Pause a variant if the notice is no longer apparent before the decision, and record the change and withdrawal owner.

Match the notice to the impression

Apply the relevant CAP Code rules to the rendered acquisition message and destination, including mobile layouts. Rules 2.1 and 2.3 concern identifying and distinguishing marketing communications; rule 2.4 concerns misrepresenting a marketing communication's nature or content; rule 2.5 requires advertorials to be identified as marketing communications. Rule 3.3 addresses material information, including information hidden or presented unclearly, ambiguously or too late. Record why the wording and position make the relevant fact visible before it affects a decision.

For affiliate or sponsored activity, name the commercial relationship plainly. Do not replace the fact with vague language such as collaboration. If a partner controls the referring page, preserve its live presentation and agree a withdrawal route.

Sample wording that names the relationship:

Never swap either line for a generic collaboration label.

Getting this wrong has consequences. In the UK, the ASA publishes rulings and can require an advertiser to change or withdraw an ad. Serious or repeated cases can go to Trading Standards.

Consumers can complain about an advertisement using the ASA's online complaints form. In England and Wales, consumer-law concerns can also be reported through the Citizens Advice consumer service, which can pass relevant information to Trading Standards; use the equivalent consumer-advice route in Scotland or Northern Ireland.

The CMA can act directly under consumer law. As of 6 April 2025, the DMCC Act's criminal controls are in Part 4, Chapter 1 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCC Act); sections 225(4)(a) and 226 prohibit giving false information to, or deceiving, consumers. The DMCC Act powers allow penalties of up to 10 per cent of global annual turnover or £300,000, whichever is higher. The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 are the former unfair-trading framework; do not cite them as the current regime for conduct governed by the DMCC Act.

Reviews, testimonials and research

Separate a genuine customer review, a testimonial selected for advertising and editorial desk research. CAP advice on testimonials and endorsements addresses documentary evidence, permission, relevance and undisclosed interests. Keep the original context and do not convert a narrow statement into a general performance claim.

The CMA's Unfair commercial practices: CMA guidance explains the DMCC Act provisions on unfair commercial practices, including banned practices involving fake reviews. A disclosure does not cure a fabricated or misleading review.

For research, state who did it, the date, source universe, method, inclusion and exclusion rules, conflicts, sample and limitations. Say whether there was hands-on testing. Do not label supplier pages independent evidence.

AI assistance and claims

Record what the system did, the material supplied, the human owner, verification and excluded tasks. Do not imply a general legal duty to use one particular phrase where none has been established. If the use of AI would otherwise leave a misleading impression about authorship, evidence, testing or independence, state what it did in plain language.

The disclosure must still prevent a misleading impression about authorship, evidence, testing or independence, and the ASA's misleading advertising guidance makes the wider claim and overall-impression review relevant.

Corrections and withdrawal

Give the page a corrections contact, evidence expiry and review date.

When a relationship, claim, source, method or legal status changes, pause the affected promotion, retain the old version and publish a dated correction where needed.

A named reviewer approves new wording.

Dated correction notice (model)

Published: [date] | Page: [URL] | Version replaced: [version]

What was wrong: [claim, disclosure, source or method] | [date it ran]

What changed: [new wording] | [placement] | [date live]

Approved by: [named reviewer] | [date]

Elsewhere: [advert, email or partner page] | [action] | [date]

Queries: [corrections contact]

Before you act

Common questions

What should a disclosure record contain?

Each record covers the page and version, the relationship or method, the exact fact to disclose, supporting evidence, owner and reviewer, placement, trigger and update route, render evidence and any connected versions.

How should affiliate or sponsored activity be described?

Name the commercial relationship plainly and do not replace the fact with vague language such as collaboration. If a partner controls the referring page, preserve its live presentation and agree a withdrawal route. The CAP Code requires marketing communications to be obviously identifiable, with commercial intent clear where context does not supply it.

What happens when a relationship or claim changes?

Pause affected promotion, retain the old version and publish a dated correction where needed. A named reviewer should approve the new wording.