AP news feed:
PHILADELPHIA -
The Federal Trade Commission will require bloggers to clearly disclose any freebies or payments they get from companies for reviewing their products.
It is the first time since 1980 that the commission has revised its guidelines on endorsements and testimonials, and the first time the rules have covered bloggers.
But the commission stopped short Monday of specifying how bloggers must disclose any conflicts of interest.
The FTC said its commissioners voted 4-0 to approve the final guidelines, which had been expected. Penalties include up to $11,000 in fines per violation.
The rules take effect Dec. 1
Tea (party) anyone??
3 comments:
This seems as though its going to be very hard to keep track of on their part. And I'm not entirely sure how it will effect tea blogs. I know there are certain sites where most teas they review are sent by companies for free press. But smaller blogs usually buy their own and do it because they love it.
But one thing I'm wondering about is do we have to disclose if what we are reviewing was a free sample thrown in with our order, or something we purchased? Or is this for more of an overt offering of free stuff?
Our Tax $$$ at work, spend a Buck to find a penny .. john
I'm all for the FTC cleaning up what has been disguised for too long. Many of these reviews are really advertisements and the companies pay practically nothing to get that word-of-mouth new media credibility. It's an incredible deal for them. Or at least, it was. --Teaternity
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