The Federal Trade Commission released guidelines today, effective December 1, mandating that bloggers, Tweeters and other “online marketers” will have to tell readers (consumers) when they are paid or given freebies to write positive reviews or online postings.
The rules also applies to “word of mouth” campaigns such as those carried out on social networking sites.
The FTC said, “the post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement” and would require some sort of written disclosure for readers:
“”These examples address what constitutes an endorsement when the message is conveyed by bloggers or other “word-of-mouth” marketers. The revised Guides specify that while decisions will be reached on a case-by-case basis, the post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement. Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service.””
Rich Cleland, assistant director of the FTC’s advertising practices division, said the disclosure must be “clear and conspicuous,” no matter what form it takes.
Bloggers and other marketers who violate the FTC Act, could be hit with fines of as much as $11,000 per instance.
However, Cleland said the FTC will more likely go after an advertiser instead of a blogger for violations.
The exception would be a blogger who runs a “substantial” operation that violates FTC rules and already received a warning, he said.
The agency also said advertisers of blogs, could be held liable for what bloggers write:
Although the FTC said it understands that advertisers don’t “have complete control over the contents” of statements made by bloggers, “if the advertiser initiated the process that led to these endorsements being made…it potentially is liable for misleading statements made by those bloggers.”
“””When the advertiser hires a blog advertising agency for the purpose of promoting its products the Commission believes it is reasonable to hold the advertiser responsible for communicating approved claims to the service (which, in turn, would be responsible for communicating those claims to the blogger).””
The FTC also updated its guidelines for celebrity endorsements, saying that celebrities “have a duty to disclose their relationships with advertisers when making endorsements outside the context of traditional ads, such as on talk shows or in social media.”
@Mike
I wonder how they’re going to enforce this, especially for those websites that are hosted outside the USA?
What about if you get paid to review a product and end up writing a negative review?
fuck the government. what makes them think they have the right to police the internet?
I can see maybe fines for blatant abuse but there are tens of thousands of sites that write about products.
How about book reviews? Several times a year I get books in the mail and I usually write up a review on my site. Will I be fined because someone sent me a book and I wrote a review about it?
How about Walter Mossberg? He must get free stuff every day of the week. Now he has to consider this as compensation?
How about a link exchange? If I agree to exchange links with someone, am I endorsing them and getting compensated for it?
Wow. What a piece of crap law. Good luck enforcing it and proving the claim and getting any fines levied.
Worn
This is far from the first time that the US government thinks they have a right to police the Internet
Rob
I think you can still write your book review but will have to disclose you got the book for free.
People are then free to discount your opinion on the basis that “you got it for free” or disregard the “free” aspect and take your review for what it is.
As far as enforcing, as usual, expect the government to go after a big fish, test the law, and if it withstands judicial scrutiny to enforce it.
Enforcement action is going to be largely based on consumer complaints, rather than a team of agents reading through a bunch of blogs.
JP
As long as some competitor to the product you wrote a negative review about didn’t pay you in cash or in kind to do so, then your fine under this Act; I just wouldn’t expect any more free stuff from the company you wrote a negative review about.
I have a friend that writes reviews about new cars.
The car manufacturers fly him to the test tracks and manufacturing plants to test them out.
And, he writes up his opinion, comparison, etc. in a large publication.
I guess this will effect him?
If someone pays me to write, heck, I’ll write whatever they want me to write.
Why don’t they go after the politicians and lobbyists?
They are paid to say the BS
“Enforcement action is going to be largely based on consumer complaints, rather than a team of agents reading through a bunch of blogs.”
Hah.
FTCBlogReaderJobs.com anyone?
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I hope that these rules will be adopted worldwide!
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In my opinion, they will have a hard time implementing this especially there are lots of freelance online workers worldwide who are hired to write feedback on certain product/services. I hope they can enforce this one
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