On November 10, 2009 the Federal Trade Commission approved the guidance it gives advertisers on how to keep their endorsements and testimonial ads in line with the FTC Act. Basically, a post from a blogger who receives cash or any kind of payment to review a product is considered an endorsement. If a blogger makes an endorsement, he/she must disclose the "payment" or material connection.
How does this relate to your blog? Think about it as an example: Let's say I started a shoe company, "Kaila's Shoes" for example and I wanted to have a lot of "word-of-mouth marketing" around my shoes and how they cure all forms of back pain. What I might do is find various people who would be willing to endorse my product via blogs posts. Perhaps celebrities or even some friends and family. I might pay them with free shoes for a year or even $5.00 a post to talk about how great these shoes are. In order to stay within these new guidelines, these bloggers would need to explicitly state that they were paid.
In another situation, lets say I started a corporate blog and I had my 50 employees that work at Kaila's shoe store blog about the benefits of the shoes and why you might want to buy a pair. These folks are not being paid to endorse the brand and are sharing their information on the Company's blog.
How does this relate to your blog? Think about it as an example: Let's say I started a shoe company, "Kaila's Shoes" for example and I wanted to have a lot of "word-of-mouth marketing" around my shoes and how they cure all forms of back pain. What I might do is find various people who would be willing to endorse my product via blogs posts. Perhaps celebrities or even some friends and family. I might pay them with free shoes for a year or even $5.00 a post to talk about how great these shoes are. In order to stay within these new guidelines, these bloggers would need to explicitly state that they were paid.
In another situation, lets say I started a corporate blog and I had my 50 employees that work at Kaila's shoe store blog about the benefits of the shoes and why you might want to buy a pair. These folks are not being paid to endorse the brand and are sharing their information on the Company's blog.
Comments for FTC Guidelines Visited
Leave a comment