FTC Guidelines Could Affect Bloggers
Thursday, April 9th, 2009
New guidelines target at endorsements and reviews.
New guidelines from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission could have an impact on bloggers writing product reviews.
The guidelines (pdf) were published back in November, and a comment period has been extended and is ongoing.
The guidelines are related to endorsements and making sure they’re valid, as well as disclosing “material connections”. One example in the guidelines is a video game blogger who receives a free video game console for review. The guidelines state that he should make it clear in his review that he received the product for free.
The guidelines also take aim at paid blogging services such as PayPerPost. The guidelines want bloggers to make it clear when they are paid to write a post or review. It also holds both the advertiser and blogger responsible if the blogger makes false or unsubstantiated comments about the product. An example is a blogger who claims a skin care product cures eczema when it doesn’t. I believe PayPerPost already has disclosure guidelines for its publishers.
I talked to an FTC representative earlier today to get an idea of what this all means. She said that, when finished, these will be “guidelines”, not rules. Thus, they aren’t laws, but describe how the FTC might view certain actions. Once feedback is complete, it will be analyzed and a proposal will be escalated. This then has to go through several layers of government bureaucracy before it can be acted on.
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Tags: federal trade commission
So it seems to follow that any blogger or anyone else that is promoting something or recommending something using an Affiliate link, then the affiliate relationship should be disclosed.
Patrick, it doesn’t give that as an example and I’m not sure if that’s what they’re going after. But it’s possible.
There is no doubt regulation is on its way to the internet. This is just one small piece. Lets all make the best of this while we still can. The lucky/smart ones are the people that get big before regulation makes it impossible to do so. Then you are all set.
RT @domainnamewire: FTC Guidelines Could Affect Bloggers: http://tinyurl.com/c5y4ob
I just wanted to confirm that all IZEA properties, including PayPerPost require disclosure for all posts.
We believe that transparency in advertising online is key to preserving the trust between a bloggger and their readers.
Like you, I am interested to see what the FTC has in store for the future.
All the Best,
Carri Bright
Communications Lead
IZEA
“FTC Guidelines Could Affect Bloggers†http://tinyurl.com/c5y4ob
But, it only applies to bloggers in the U.S.
Another case of the U.S. Gov’t making its’ citizens (and corporations based in the U.S.) uncompetitive.
Domainer – The premise of the guidelines make sense. I think people should be required to disclose commercial biases in was they post online.