The FTC has announced new rules for bloggers–now bloggers have to disclose paid endorsements to their readers.
Many bloggers receive a small fee from companies for reviewing their products. Under FTC’s new rules, bloggers engaging in this practice have to disclose that they are receiving a fee for the blog post. Bloggers also have to disclose any gifts, free gadgets, samples etc. as well as these also count as compensation.
Many bloggers disclose paid reviews and posts on their blogs. However, paid posts are often obvious even when they are not disclosed. If you are reviewing a product on your blog, you must clearly mention the typical results users can expect from the product. If your experience was not normal, you simple can’t say results were not typical of the product.
FTC had set new rules for not just bloggers, but also for users of social networks and microblogging services such as Twitter.
These rules may sound very straightforward. However, suppose you work for a company and at the same time love the products the company makes and endorse them on your blog. So, since you are receiving monetary compensation from the company, should you declare everywhere that you work for the company? You should be safe as long as you don’t have huge traffic, but if you do, it is advisable to disclose your affiliations.
These rules do seem to be excessive. However, the FTC is not all interested in targeting individual bloggers with heavy fines. These rules are meant for corporations and companies who do false advertising about their products. A paid post with exaggerated benefits does count as false advertising.
The FTC is more bothered about how advertisers pay for endorsements rather than the individual bloggers themselves. However, the FTC can levy fines up to $11,00 for potential violations. If you are a big time blogger or have large followings on Twitter, it is advisable to play by the rules.