FTC Act, Section 5
Advertising must not be deceptive. A publication whose commercial nature is hidden is deceptive regardless of whether its content is accurate.
Trust Center / Disclosure
Trust Center
Who is speaking,
always.
Every GEO capability that puts words into a public space carries a disclosure requirement, applied at the product level rather than left to the operator's discretion.
The fastest way for AI-era marketing to become disinformation is for the audience not to know who is talking.
Comment Engagement Desk
One real, disclosed brand identity per publication. No persona libraries, no invented author names, no rotation. Every comment carries the configured affiliation statement, and the compliance checker blocks any draft where the disclosure is missing. A named human approves each comment individually. Where a publication's terms forbid brand commenting or automation, the capability is disabled for that site.
Authored expert journals
These are disclosed advertising. Each publication states, permanently and prominently, that it is produced on behalf of the client it serves, and each individual article, video and episode carries that disclosure before the content begins, not after it. The disclosure is also machine-readable: structured data on every item identifies the sponsor and the operator.
These publications are expert. They are not independent, and we do not present them as such.
Earned network distribution
Distributed releases and contributed articles follow each publisher's disclosure conventions and the applicable advertising rules in the jurisdiction of publication.
Political and advocacy clients
Disclosure is mandatory and non-configurable. Jurisdictional election-period rules take precedence over any client preference.
Regulatory map, United States
Naming the instrument makes the claim checkable.
Endorsement Guides, 16 CFR Part 255 (rev. 2023)
A material connection must be disclosed where a significant portion of the audience would not expect it. In interactive media the disclosure must be unavoidable and undiluted, and where a claim is made in both visual and audible form the disclosure must appear in both.
Native-advertising guidance
Content formatted to resemble independent editorial must be identifiable as advertising before the reader engages with it.
16 CFR Part 465
No fabricated reviews, no undisclosed insider reviews, no purchased indicators of social approval. Governs the Comment Engagement Desk directly.
Regulatory map, EU and UK
The same standard, named in each jurisdiction.
UCPD 2005/29/EC, Annex I point 11
Using editorial content to promote a product where the trader has paid, without making that clear, is banned in all circumstances. Governs expert journals directly.
UCPD Annex I point 22
Falsely creating the impression the trader is not acting for business purposes is banned outright. Governs comment participation.
Digital Services Act (EU) 2022/2065
Advertising transparency. Brand-affiliated content must be identifiable.
DMCC Act 2024, Part 4 (UK)
In force since 6 April 2025. Reproduces the banned-practices list including undisclosed advertorial. The CMA enforces consumer law directly, with penalties up to 10% of global turnover.
CAP Code, Section 2 (UK)
Marketing communications must be obviously identifiable as such. Enforced by the ASA.
How the disclosure actually appears.
Publication level. A permanent publisher statement in each property's About section and footer, naming both the client and Hordus as operator, present from day one.
Item level. Disclosure appears before the content, above the fold, at the same visual weight as body text. Never in a footer, never after a fold. Plain language: "Sponsored by [Client]" or "Produced on behalf of [Client]." No euphemism.
Video and audio. Disclosure appears both on screen and in spoken audio near the start. Descriptions and show notes repeat it in text.
Machine-readable. Expressed in structured data (sponsor, publisher, funder) so affiliation is legible to AI systems, not only human readers.
Independence claims. A journal may describe itself as expert. It may not describe itself, or be designed to imply, that it is independent or editorially separate from the client.