FTC Guidelines Could Affect Bloggers
Fresh guidelines target at endorsements and reviews.
Fresh guidelines from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission could have an impact on bloggers writing product reviews.
The guidelines (pdf) were published back in November, and a comment period has been extended and is ongoing.
The guidelines are related to endorsements and making sure they’re valid, as well as disclosing “material connections”. One example in the guidelines is a video game blogger who receives a free video game console for review. The guidelines state that he ought to make it clear in his review that he received the product for free.
The guidelines also take aim at paid blogging services such as PayPerPost. The guidelines want bloggers to make it clear when they are paid to write a post or review. It also holds both the advertiser and blogger responsible if the blogger makes false or unsubstantiated comments regarding the product. An example is a blogger who claims a skin care product cures eczema when it doesn’t. I believe PayPerPost by now has disclosure guidelines for its publishers.
I talked to an FTC representative earlier today to get an idea of what this all means. She stated that, when finished, these will be “guidelines”, not rules. Thus, they aren’t laws, but describe how the FTC might view certain actions. Once feedback is complete, it will be analyzed and a proposal will be escalated. This then has to go through a number of layers of government bureaucracy ahead of it can be acted on.
