Yes. A paid or otherwise rewarded post is advertising and a trader's commercial practice. If its promotional nature is unclear, the Consumer Protection Act treats it as an always-prohibited unfair commercial practice. The trader whose product is promoted bears primary responsibility, but the law expressly also covers anyone acting in its name or on its behalf, including the influencer. Labels must be understandable and visible without expanding the post. The contract should expressly regulate labelling, content approval and sanctions.
Content creator partnerships are the fastest-growing advertising channel for online shops, and the one in which it is easiest to forget that the content is advertising. The company commissioning the post bears the primary consequences of failing to label it.
A rewarded post is advertising and a commercial practice
Act No. 147/2001 Coll. on Advertising defines advertising as a presentation or other communication in any form connected with business and intended to promote a product on the market (Section 2(1)(a)). The influencer disseminates the advertising and you commission it (Section 2(1)(c) and (f)). For customer relations, Act No. 108/2024 Coll. on Consumer Protection is decisive: a trader’s commercial practice includes commercial communications, advertising and marketing (Section 2(j)), and traders must not use unfair commercial practices (Section 4(2)(a)). A reward includes not only a fee, but generally also free goods, a discount or an invitation.
Missing labels mean hidden advertising, which is always unfair
The Act lists practices considered unfair without further examination (Section 9(5)), including:
Using editorial content in the media to promote a product where a trader has paid for the promotion without making this clear in the content or through images or sounds clearly identifiable by the consumer (hidden advertising).
— Annex 1 to Act No. 108/2024 Coll., list of misleading commercial practices (unofficial English translation)
The same list includes falsely presenting oneself as a consumer, such as an influencer praising a product as an enthusiastic customer despite receiving it and being paid to do so. Beyond the list, the general rule on misleading omissions also applies:
A commercial practice is also a misleading omission where, taking account of its features, circumstances and the limitations of the communication medium, the trader hides or provides in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or inappropriate manner material information needed by the average consumer in context to make an informed transactional decision, or fails to identify the commercial intent of the practice unless already apparent from the context, thereby causing or potentially causing the average consumer to take a transactional decision they would not otherwise have taken.
— Section 11(2) of Act No. 108/2024 Coll. (unofficial English translation)
This also determines the label’s form: understandable to the average consumer and visible without expanding the post. For Slovak audiences, use “reklama” (advertising) or “platená spolupráca” (paid partnership) at the start of the text, in the image or in speech, rather than a hashtag at the end of a long caption or an English abbreviation. The platform’s paid partnership tool is supplementary, not a substitute if insufficiently visible itself.
Who is liable
The Slovak Trade Inspection supervises compliance (Section 26(1)(b)), with the trader whose product is promoted being the supervised person. The law expressly also covers the creator:
[…] also apply to a person acting in the trader’s name or on its behalf in a commercial practice.
— Section 9(11) of Act No. 108/2024 Coll. (unofficial English translation)
Both the online shop and influencer may therefore be fined. Section 43 of Act No. 108/2024 Coll. provides a fine for unfair commercial practices from EUR 200 to 2% of turnover for the preceding accounting period, capped at EUR 200,000, with higher penalties for repetition. The trader also bears the burden of proving advertising claims true (Section 9(12)), and a consumer affected by an unfair practice is entitled to a remedy or withdrawal from the contract (Section 9(7)). The influencer is liable to you under your contract, if you have one.
What belongs in the influencer agreement
Require every output to be labelled and specify the wording, placement and display duration. Provide for approval before publication and adherence to supplied materials, because you must prove the claims true. Prohibit posing as an ordinary customer and fake reviews, which are also always unfair practices; see verifying online shop reviews. If the influencer runs a giveaway, the rules in consumer competitions apply. Address contractual penalties and compensation, including inspection fines, a duty to promptly correct or remove posts, a licence to use the content on your channels and protection of your reputation.
How we can help
Our influencer agreement service covers labelling, approval, licensing and sanctions. Our e-commerce legal services cover campaigns, competitions and reviews as a whole. If a competitor uses hidden advertising or a creator damages your reputation, we address it through unfair competition and reputation protection. Send us the proposed partnership before the first post goes live.
This answer provides general information on the law as at 5 September 2026. It does not constitute legal services or replace an assessment of an individual case. The details of your situation may differ. Book a consultation to discuss them.
