New FTC Rules For Bloggers And Affiliate Marketers
Written by kevinkoop on October 6th, 2009
If you make endorsements of products from a blog, build review sites or list testimonials on a sales page, you’re going to want to know about the new FTC Rules for Bloggers, Affiliate Marketers and Just about everyone else that is selling something online and using some sort of “endorsement.”
Yesterday, (October 5th, 2009) the FTC released a new pdf that discusses some of the changes it is making in regards to enforcing endorsements (whether online or off).
The “FTC Rules” pdf can be found at the link below (the relevant stuff begins on page 56) –
http://ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005endorsementguidesfnnotice.pdf
Basically, they are cracking down on anyone making deceptive claims in order to earn a commission and on bloggers who write “sponsored posts” without disclosing the fact that they have been paid to write the review.
It also talks about the use of testimonials and under what circumstances a testimonial (or a variety of other elements) may be construed to be an “endorsement.”
I’m no attorney so I’m not going to get into what this may mean for your specific business but I do encourage you to give the FTC Rules pdf a read to see if you need to make any adjustments to protect yourself.
To your success,
Kevin
PS - On occasion, I endorse products here on this blog and some of the time, I earn a commission for doing so. ;- )
Tags: FTC, FTC Rules for Marketers, New FTC Rules
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2 Comments at "New FTC Rules For Bloggers And Affiliate Marketers"
Can someone now provide an “English” version of this document instead of all the law lingo?
@Clint - Your point is a valid one but I think most (including me) will be cautious to provide this type of info just to protect themselves from any liability.
As I’m not an attorney, my “version” would be purely subjective and it may or not be accurate.
If I misinterpret this info in my own business, I will be liable. However, I don’t want to take on the added liability that might come as a result of misleading someone else.
Sorry to side-step your request, but I’m just being honest.
Looking at the report myself, I think the best information can be found in the “Examples” they’ve given. I found the “legal ease” somewhat confusing but their examples do help to clarify things (for me, at least).
Best,
Kevin
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