FTC New Rule: Bloggers Must Disclose Compensation
If there’s compensation for reviews or testimonials (including money or free products), such payment must be disclosed under new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines. Equally important,
“advertisements that feature a consumer and convey his or her experience with a product or service as typical when that is not the case will be required to clearly disclose the results that consumers can generally expect.”
Note that the FTC can hold both the endorser and the advertiser liable for false claims, unsubstantiated claims, or failing to disclose the compensation.
This is long overdue from a consumer protection standpoint. Those who use flogs, phony review websites, and cooked up testimonials are on notice that the FTC will not tolerate this nonsense in the future. It will also set the bar higher for affiliate status disclosures.
Unfortunately, it will take some expensive lawsuits and a few info product marketers going to jail before the new reality sets in. The federal government is taming the Internet Wild West. Cyber-Deadwood is becoming civilized whether it wants to or not.
Recommended Reading: FTC Publishes Final Guides Governing Endorsements, Testimonials
WordPress Blogging at WordCamp Dallas 2008
The second day of WordCamp Dallas 2008 is wrapping up. In addition to learning more from a tech standpoint, including some good SEO tips, the event provided an opportunity to get into the mindset of bloggers of all skill levels and many motives for blogging.
One of the amusing things is how many bloggers are doing it strictly for the fun of it, i.e. with no monetary incentives. Even those who are attempting to monetize their blogs, seem to be coming up short in the ways to do it. From the school of hard knocks, I’ve learned that there are far better ways to generate income with your blog than Google AdSense or as an Amazon Associate (affiliate).
