Influencer or Ad?: free game to spot hidden sponsored posts

What is Influencer or Ad?

Twelve made-up posts from creators on Snapgram, ClipTok and Chirpr, each with what really happened behind it: a brand paid, sent a free gift, pays per code, or nobody paid at all. Call each one: clearly labelled ad, hidden ad, or not an ad. Vague tags, labels buried in hashtags and sponsor mentions at the very end all count as hidden.

Influencer or Ad? is a free game about sponsored posts. Each round shows a made-up creator's post on a made-up app, with the caption, any tag the app adds, what appears on screen, and what really happened behind it: a brand paid, a product was sent for free, a discount code earns the creator a cut, or nobody paid anything. Your job is to call it: a clearly labelled ad, a hidden ad, or not an ad at all.

The first posts are obvious. Then the labels get slippery: #sp and #collab, "thanks @brand", #ad buried after twenty hashtags, a sponsor named only in the last seconds of a video, a gift mentioned while the payment isn't. After each call the game explains why, so you learn the rule while you play.

At a glance

Category

Social Media

Difficulty

Easy

Play time

2–3 min

Price

Free, in your browser, sign-up optional

How to play

Read the post

The caption, the app's tags, what's on screen, and what happened behind the post.

Know the rule

Paid, gifted, or earning from a link or code? It needs a clear, upfront label like #ad, "Ad" or "Paid partnership".

Call it

Clear ad, Hidden ad or Not an ad, by tap or with keys 1 to 3, before the timer runs out.

Score

100 per right call, up to +50 for speed and +10 per right call in a row. A miss or a timeout costs one of 3 lives.

Scoring

Each right call scores 100 points, plus up to 50 for answering fast and 10 for every right call in a row before it (up to 50).

A wrong call or a timeout costs one of your 3 lives. A run is 12 posts, and the timer gets shorter in each group of four.

What it trains

Spotting hidden ads

Seeing a paid deal behind a post that looks like a free opinion.

Reading labels

Telling clear labels (#ad, Paid partnership) from vague ones (#sp, #collab, "thanks @brand").

Disclosure habits

Knowing that gifts, codes and affiliate links count, and that labels go upfront.

Strategy and tips

Look for any deal

Money, a free product, an ambassador contract, a code or link that pays per sale: any of these needs a label.

Check where the label is

A label only works if people see it before the pitch. The start of the caption or the first seconds of a video, not the end.

Distrust vague tags

#sp, #collab and "thanks @brand" don't tell most people money changed hands. #ad, "Ad" or "Paid partnership" do.

A brand name isn't an ad

Showing shoes you bought yourself or tagging a café you paid for is just a post. No deal, nothing to label.

Honest can still be an ad

A labelled ad can include criticism. What matters is that the relationship is out in the open.

Why play Influencer or Ad?

Most platforms' rules and many advertising watchdogs share one principle: if a creator gets something from a brand, viewers should know, clearly and before they're sold to. Spotting hidden ads makes you a sharper scroller, and labelling your own deals keeps your audience's trust if you ever create content yourself.

Frequently asked questions