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By Les Scammell, October 6, 2009 10:46 am

The FTC has finally published its guidelines for disclosures for blog posts and articles that endorse products in exchange for a reward. Compared to what was being discussed several months ago, this appears to be a very watered down document to the point of being almost useless. At the time I did write that most bloggers would not be affected by the FTC.

One of the first things to clarify for all bloggers around the world is that these guidelines only cover those in United States – if you are outside the US then read on with interest – but feel free to continue writing as you do now. At least bloggers outside the US won’t be classified as criminals.

What about those in the States? Who does it cover?

endorsements by consumers, experts, organizations, and celebrities

I think everyone knows that when a celebrity stands up to promote something the chances are they have been paid. That aside, what is covered?

advertisements that feature a consumer and convey his or her experience with a product or service as typical when that is not the case

Okay, so bloggers that write posts or articles promoting a product and making claims must comply with the FTC Act. Principally:

the post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement.

What do you need to do:

bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service

So lets weed through the crap and see what has actually been said. The first thing that strikes me is that only posts that make claims which are not based on personal experience are covered. If you can honestly claim to be writing from experience – it appears the act does not cover your posts – even if you are paid to write them.

The second point of interest for those who do “paid for post” type articles – as long as you don’t make any false claims then you do not have to comply with the Act. If you write a general article that links back to a site – that’s fine.

It all boils down to truth in advertising. If you are making claims that you cannot justify from experience then you need to make a disclosure of some description – interestingly, the guidelines make no mention of what type of disclosure is required.

If you receive a product to review, do what I do. Only review it on the understanding that it will be an honest review and not a review created to make the product look good. Most businesses that supply products for review agree. I have had only one refusal – but then, I have only had five or six requests to date.

Compared to what was being talked about earlier this year – the FTC was full of bluff and bluster and the final document is pretty weak. Mind you, if you do run foul of their guidelines – there is a hefty $16,000 fine lined up for both publishers and advertisers.

This was not a review paid for by the FTC – unfortunately – I would have made it sound better if it was

Comments (30)

By Les Scammell, April 14, 2009 10:28 pm

Most bloggers would be aware of google’s dislike of paid posts – more importantly, paid links in paid posts. If the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) gets its way, paid posts as such will be illegal.

The FTC is looking at plans to update its policies and their sights are set fairly and squarely on bloggers, paid posts and viral marketing. For bloggers who earn their small dollars each month writing paid posts – the time may have come to look else where.

Why the attack on paid posts? I said Google doesn’t like the paid links. For the FTC, they see paid posts as dishonest reviews – in other words, rather than writing a truthful review of a product or site, you are being paid to write a positive review.

Now I know there are a couple of pay for post sites that pay for the link. You don’t have to actually review the site or the product. If the link is to a kitchen sink site, just write any old post about kitchen sinks and include a link, it doesn’t have to be a review. Now, I wonder if the FTC will include them in their ban?

The next question is what will the FTC do to those bloggers that do write paid reviews? Will they prosecute and turn them into criminals? That is fine if you are based in the US. What if your based in Britain, Europe or Australia – will the law cross borders?

This is the biggest hurdle to any government agency trying to control the internet. You may be able to control what is happening within your own border, you cannot control the events from outside your borders. Still, I guess they will try. In the meantime, the poor old blogger is the one that will cop it on the chin – again!