N.Y. GBL §396-b tells advertisers with actual knowledge to conspicuously disclose, in the advertisement, that a synthetic performer is in it. The statute does not define conspicuous. Firms tracking the law point at the FTC's existing standard in 16 C.F.R. 255.0(f): a disclosure that is difficult to miss — easily noticeable — and easily understandable by ordinary consumers, close to the claim it modifies. That is the same family as FTC endorsement disclosure, and it is a different sentence from an AI content label or an Article 50 first-exposure mark. The three can stack on one spot.
In a vertical feed, difficult to miss means on the picture, in the language of the ad, up long enough to read, clear of platform chrome. A hashtag at the end of a caption, a Studio toggle, a description-field footnote, a chip that appears after the presenter has finished talking: those fail the ordinary-viewer test even when a lawyer can find them. Burned-in type survives re-encode, crop, and a re-upload. Platform metadata does not.
New York is an ad rule with reach into NY consumers, in force 9 June 2026. Article 50 is an EU deployer duty on realistic synthetic media, in force 2 August 2026. Passing one does not pass the other. Write the line once, put it where a fast thumb will actually see it, and keep paid-partnership language as a second line if the spot is also an endorsement.
In practice
- Put the synthetic-performer notice in the frame near the person, in the same language as the ad.
- Hold it long enough to read. A four-frame flash is not conspicuous.
- Do not treat a YouTube overlay or a paid-partnership tag as this sentence. Check each duty.
The mistake to avoid
Filing the disclosure in a caption or a description and calling the statute satisfied. Conspicuous is what a scrolling viewer notices, not what a transcript search finds.
Go deeper
New York's synthetic performer ad disclosure
Since 9 June 2026, ads reaching New York consumers with a synthetic human performer need a conspicuous disclosure. Scope, exemption and penalties.
Where you will run into it
- Add a Text Overlay to a Video — Your words, placed exactly where you want them.
Related terms
FTC endorsement disclosure
FTC endorsement disclosure meaning: say a material brand connection clearly where viewers cannot miss it, for human or AI talent.
AI content label
AI content label meaning: a platform or creator tag that marks a post as made or altered with AI. Separate from paid-endorsement disclosure.
Article 50
Article 50 of the EU AI Act is the 2 August 2026 transparency rule: labels on certain AI interactions, synthetic media, and public-interest AI text.
Synthetic performer
A synthetic performer, under New York ad law, is a generated human-looking performer in an ad who is not recognizable as an identifiable real person.
Spark Ads
Spark Ads meaning: TikTok budget behind an existing post (yours or a creator's) so paid reach keeps the real likes, comments, and shares.
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