A recent announcement from the FTC that implied that bloggers that wrote pay for post articles could be in trouble may just turn out to be a storm in a tea cup. For the majority of bloggers, including those that do write pay for post articles, the crack down will miss them by the proverbial country mile.
It’s all in the wording really. The FTC has bee in its bonnet over anyone who endorses a product for exchange without disclosing that an exchange has taken place. You don’t have to disclose what the arrangement is, but, according to the FTC, you do need to include a disclosure for each and every endorsement – a site wide disclosure may not be sufficient.
Now I said the issue lay in the wording – and it does and the word that is of utmost importance here ‘endorsement’. For many pay for post writers, they are not actually endorsing any product, service or website. For many, they are writing in general terms about the genre, for example, kitchen sinks, and including a link to the appropriate web site. Often the web sites products are not mentioned. Is this an endorsement? I think not – it is a paid link, but it is not a direct or even indirect endorsement.
If you do receive something in exchange for writing a positive review about a product or service, in other words a recommendation or endorsement, then be sure to disclose the fact. If you disclose, you have nothing to worry about. For most bloggers, if you don’t actually endorse the product, you are free to continue your pay for post careers.
Andy Beal at Marketing Pilgrim has a more in depth look at the issue in his article titled – Should You Fear the FTC’s Sponsored Blogging Crackdown? – in simple terms – no unless your a big name in the blogging world since they are the group most likely to receive product endorsement requests.
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