The FTC Rules for Bloggers
In case you haven’t noticed, the FTC has decided to regulate the blogging/social-media world to provide more protection for consumers. For far too long, bloggers have been getting freebies from advertisers and product manufacturers in return for positive reviews. Of course, you wouldn’t expect a serious blogger to engage in such practices. But you would be surprised what people do for freebies. We are not talking about small gifts here. Some people have received computers, camcorders, and all kinds of free gadgets just to provide a positive testimonial for a product. It’s not that hard to imagine why the FTC has decided to go out of its way to come up with a guideline that needs to be followed by bloggers, affiliates, and social-media marketers, starting December 1st. There are many people who read these fake testimonials and believe them to be real. Besides, reading a positive review without having all the facts in hand is not the best way to get informed online.
The FTC guidelines are vague to say the least. They always are. But the fact remains that bloggers and social-media marketers who are being compensated by advertisers need to disclose what they are receiving for their reviews, testimonials, and so on. Andy Baer, who I had the pleasure of personally working with and is an absolute expert on this topic, has taken the leadership to help bloggers understand this ruling better. Here is what he had to say about the FTC’s latest ruling on this matter:
companies that make payments or give free products to bloggers and other online commentators in order to generate positive buzz or favorable reviews for their products will now have to monitor closely the statements and claims made about the products and ensure that these relationships, if material, are clearly and conspicuously disclosed.
So as you can tell, the FTC intends to go after advertisers and not bloggers. But if you write for a large community, you want to make sure you disclose the freebies that you receive from advertisers. The fine could be as high as $11,000 if you fail to pay attention to the FTC’s warnings. The FTC is clear about what constitutes an endorsement:
… blogger could receive merchandise from a marketer with a request to review it, but with no compensation paid other than the value of the product itself. In this situation, whether or not any positive statement the blogger posts would be deemed an “endorsement” within the meaning of the Guides would depend on, among other things, the value of that product, and on whether the blogger routinely receives such requests. If that blogger frequently receives products from manufacturers because he or she is known to have wide readership within a particular demographic group that is the manufacturers’ target market, the blogger’s statements are likely to be deemed to be “endorsements”…
So how do you stay out of trouble with the FTC? Make sure you disclose your relationships with your sponsors. The good news is that the FTC won’t be coming after you before warning you. But why deceive your readers when you can gain their trust by disclosing your existing relationships with advertisers in a clear manner. I personally don’t ever guarantee a good review on this or any other blog that I own. You shouldn’t either. If a product doesn’t meet your standards, you should mention it on your blog. Think about it. If we all sell our souls to advertisers, more people will be worse off for it. If you have been honest with your reviews, you should have nothing to hide.
**For more information on the FTC’s ruling, you should check out: http://www.baerbizlaw.com/ or follow him on Twitter.
