It’s been a few days since the FTC announced it’s new rule in the USA regarding endorsements. The rule states that advertisers, bloggers and celebrities must disclose any payments or free gifts they are getting for reviewing a product, with a maximum fine of $11,000 being quoted.
I’ve seen a few different reactions to this decision this week but the general consensus seems to be that most bloggers think this is a good move.
Disclosure
I’ve only wrote a few paid reviews for Blogging Tips however all of these reviews have been fully disclosed to readers to make sure that they understood a payment was received for reviewing it. In my opinion, that’s the only way to do things.
I really don’t think it is in any bloggers benefit to sell out their readers and recommend a poor product in exchange for a gift or cash payment as they will quickly lose their integrity. And if the readers of a blog don’t trust the owner, they are very unlikely to purchase any products or services from them (and might unsubscribe too).
I know everyone doesn’t think this way though. I’ve read many positive reviews of products and services which I knew were very poor, but nothing was disclosed within the review so we have to assume that the review was unbiased.
Some advertisers aren’t too keen on disclosure either. I’ve had a few advertisers back out after I told them that all paid reviews had to have a message at the end saying the review was paid for.
Who does the new FTC Rule affect?
How pro-active will the FTC be in enforcing this new rule? It is highly unlikely that they will waste their time targeting bloggers with a few hundred readers, or even a few thousand. It is more likely that this rule was introduced to generally discourage biased reviews and to make it easier for them to fine high profile bloggers and celebrities who break the rules.
Though is it possible for them to effectively enforce it anyway? Surely every product recommendation isn’t going to come under scrutiny, it just isn’t practical. I think it will remain fairly easy for people to give positive reviews if everything is under the radar i.e. if they are not blatant about it.
Perhaps I’m being negative. I do welcome this new rule as it discourages biased reviews, but I believe this doesn’t really affect the majority of us as it’s only high profile celebrities and bloggers which will be under the spotlight.
What do you think about this new rule?
* Thanks to DaneBlogger, who brought this news story to my attention on Monday 
I think this would apply to me if I ever did any paid endorsements but since I haven't will file this info under "May need to know later" And thanks for the tips
I do paid reviews or promotional posts sometimes. In the end of post there will be always note “I received something for writing this post. New offers welcome.” and post is tagged with “paid post” tag. There are no exceptions in this principle.
Of course as I’m living and writing in Estonia, FTC regulations do not affect me. We have no regulations for bloggers but I still started writing commercial posts that are clearly marked just to be clear and honest with my readers.
I feel that my concience is clear.
This sounds too much like Big Brother to me. Bloggers offer opinions all the time so of course they're biased. Next thing you know the FTC will want to regulate postings on Facebook!
I have a copy of the document in my possession. I haven't gone through it in detail yet but I do believe it should add some integrity to this market place.
One thing I have picked out is that reviews need to be auditable, rather than say John Monks Texas, a pic and some words.
I will publish my own thoughts on my blog when I cut through the jargon.
As you say in your post – it will be mightily difficult to enforce but once the law is in place if there is some sort of enforcement organisation it will at least give people some sort of redress against the scammers and spammers! time will tell
As vague as this regulation is for me and for so many, I do agree with you Kevin that this rule will apply only to the big boys.
In the mean time I hope people will take the regulation seriously and proceed with caution.
Will be back to see more comments.