If you run an affiliate blog, you’ve probably run into the question of how to properly disclose that a post is sponsored or contains affiliate links.
In many regions, regulators now require that sponsored content be clearly labeled as advertising. Japan’s own stealth-marketing regulation, which took effect in October 2023, is one clear example: content published in exchange for compensation must be marked as an ad.
Handling this manually, or bolting on a separate plugin just to manage disclosures, adds friction to an already busy publishing workflow.
Utopia includes a built-in Affiliate settings panel that handles this without any extra plugin. Here’s what it actually does.
A PR label that makes sponsorship obvious
The Affiliate settings screen lets you turn a PR label on or off sitewide.
Once enabled, you can mark any individual post as sponsored directly from the post editor sidebar.
The label text is fully customizable. It defaults to “PR,” but you can switch it to “Ad,” “Sponsored,” or whatever fits your site’s tone.
Because this is set per post rather than applied globally, you can label a product review while leaving a regular editorial post untouched, all from the same editor screen.
A disclosure banner built for stealth-marketing compliance
Alongside the PR label, Utopia offers a disclosure banner.
When enabled, it automatically inserts your custom disclosure text at the top of the relevant post’s content.
The text field accepts HTML, so you can include a link to a fuller explanation page if you want readers to have more context.
You also control the scope: show the banner only on posts marked as PR, or apply it site-wide across every post. That flexibility matters if you want one consistent disclosure policy across the whole site.
Automatic nofollow and sponsored attributes on outbound links
Search engines expect affiliate links to be marked as advertising, typically through rel attributes on the link itself.
Utopia can automatically add rel=”nofollow” and rel=”sponsored” to external links inside your post content.
That removes the need to manually edit link attributes every time you publish, so you can keep good SEO hygiene without extra steps.
Nofollow and sponsored are controlled by separate toggles, so you can choose exactly which combination fits your site’s policy.
Turn any URL into a blog card automatically
Utopia also includes automatic blog cards: paste a bare URL on its own line, and it’s converted into a card with a thumbnail and title.
Cards are easier to scan than plain text links, which tends to help with click-through rates on product or reference links.
If you’d rather place a card manually somewhere specific, the [blogcard url="..."] shortcode does the same job on demand.
Works the same way across every site type
These affiliate settings aren’t tied to a specific Utopia site type. Whether your site started as a Corporate, Blog, LP, or Media layout, the same settings panel applies theme-wide.
That matters if your site’s purpose shifts over time, say, a corporate site that later adds review content, or a magazine-style Media site that starts running sponsored posts. You don’t need to reconfigure anything; the same disclosure rules just carry over.
Start with the Affiliate settings screen
PR labels, disclosure banners, automatic nofollow and sponsored links, and blog cards are all managed from one place: the Affiliate settings screen in the Utopia dashboard.
If you’re running an affiliate site, it’s worth opening that screen and reviewing your disclosure setup, starting with the PR label and disclosure banner.
