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What Every Blogger Needs To Know About The FTC Guidelines

By Mark Leonard 28 Comments

Important for Bloggers to Read - FTC GuidelinesThere has been a great deal of confusion among bloggers since the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) issued updated guidelines in March 2013 regarding if and when disclosures must be made in connection with online advertising (the “Guides”).  This article will summarize some of the most important guidelines and how they may affect bloggers (the complete Guides are available here).  This article does not constitute legal advice and is provided for informational purposes only.

One of the most common situations where a disclosure must be made is if a blogger participates in an affiliate marketing program and they post about products or services promoted by that program.  Such posts constitute advertisements and the basic FTC rules of advertising apply: the post must be truthful and not misleading, claims made in the post must be substantiated, and the post cannot be unfair.  To be “truthful and not misleading” a post about a product or service for which the blogger receives compensation, for example the product was provided for free or the blogger gets a discount for promoting the service, that relationship must be disclosed in the post.  There is no set requirement on what language must appear in a disclosure, what’s important is that the information is clear to the consumer.  It could be as simple as “XYZ, Inc. gave me this product to try out” or “I receive a discount on this service for posting about it.”

What to include in a disclosure gets more complicated when dealing with space constraints such as on Twitter.  In such situations the FTC suggests that hash tags such as “#paid ad”, “#paid”, or even “#ad” may be effective disclosures.  The following example from the Guides shows effective disclosures from a fictional movie star, Julie Starz, who is a paid endorser for a weight loss program:

FTC-Bloggers-Guidelines

In this instance two disclosures are required, that she is being paid by Fat-away and that her weight loss is not typical.  Such disclosures would also be required on a social media channel with limited space such as Facebook status updates, sponsored Pinterest pins or photos posted on Instagram.

Disclosures must also be “clear and conspicuous.”  According to the Guides that means the disclosure “should be placed as close as possible to the claim they qualify.”  As an example, in a post reviewing a blender, if the blogger received the blender for free from the manufacturer in order to review it that fact should be disclosed early in the post, not at the end or via a link or button that takes the reader to another page where the disclosure is made.

It is important to remember that the Guides only apply to endorsements if the company providing the product or service, or someone working for that company, paid the blogger for the endorsement or gave them something of value.  If a blogger reviewed a new camera in a post and they received the camera as a gift from a family member or friend, won it in a contest, or purchased it themselves then no disclosure is required.

This article addressed some of the main issues bloggers should be aware of in the Guides.  Additional information is available in the Guides (especially in the examples at the end) and in a FAQ provided by the FTC (available here).  Whether or not an FTC guideline applies to a particular activity is a highly fact specific question and bloggers should consult with an experienced e-commerce attorney if they want specific advice on their situation.

What Every Blogger Needs To Know About The New FTC Guidelines


Filed Under: Blogging Tips Tagged With: blogging legals

About Mark Leonard

Mark is the co-founder of Davis & Leonard LLP, a boutique intellectual property transactional and litigation firm in Sacramento, California. Mark’s practice is focused on copyright and trademark prosecution, enforcement, licensing, and litigation in the areas of trademark and copyright infringement, e-commerce, computer intrusion, Trademark Trial and Appeal Board proceedings, and ICANN Internet domain name disputes. Mark is the Chair of the Executive Committee of the California State Bar Intellectual Property Law Section (“IP Section”), the Vice-Chair of the IP Section’s Legislation Interest Group, and Secretary of the IP Section’s Trademark Interest Group. Prior to practicing law, Mark worked in government at the federal and state levels as a legislative staff member, spokesperson, and in the public relations field where he specialized in media relations and crisis communications training.

Comments

  1. Bradley Finnearty says

    May 6, 2013 at 7:21 am

    This is good stuff to know. The feds are getting more serious about this kind of thing.

    Reply
    • Lara says

      May 6, 2013 at 10:56 am

      Great info!

      Reply
  2. Maria Fontaine says

    May 6, 2013 at 7:37 am

    Thanks for the info and insight!!

    Reply
  3. Rob says

    May 6, 2013 at 12:41 pm

    Thanks for this.. I read something about it but never followed up.

    Reply
  4. Tina says

    May 6, 2013 at 1:16 pm

    It’s about time!! The FFC is very quiet about the Internet (and congress is even more quiet). I hope this helps regulate (and control) some misuse on the ‘net.

    Reply
  5. Mary says

    May 6, 2013 at 3:15 pm

    Thank you, Mark. If I ever become an affiliate marketer, I will know what I need to disclose. Great article!

    Reply
  6. Loretta says

    May 6, 2013 at 3:30 pm

    Very helpful information! Thank you so much!

    Reply
  7. Yvonne Brown says

    May 6, 2013 at 3:56 pm

    Very informative! I am working towards earning a certificate in IP so I find your incite very beneficial! Thanks!

    Yvonne Brown

    Reply
  8. veronica says

    May 6, 2013 at 4:12 pm

    Great info. You don’t want to get on the bad side of the Feds 🙂

    Reply
  9. Julie Wilson says

    May 6, 2013 at 4:17 pm

    Great message. Stay on their good side

    Reply
  10. Marilyn says

    May 6, 2013 at 5:45 pm

    FTC rules have always been in place. I am not sure why some bloggers still think they do not have to do a disclosure. I have been blogging 9 years and always had to have a disclosure. Thank you for the update.

    Reply
  11. Todd says

    May 6, 2013 at 7:24 pm

    Thanks for the information! Will need to revamp some of my posts..

    Reply
  12. Dov Shapira says

    May 6, 2013 at 8:06 pm

    This info is music to my ears.
    You have to know what you’re saying, I mean really know

    Reply
  13. Fred says

    May 6, 2013 at 9:54 pm

    Good to know!

    Reply
  14. Steve Didier says

    May 6, 2013 at 11:35 pm

    Great information – as an affiliate marketer, I was really unclear as to what the new guidelines are. Thanks for posting!

    Reply
  15. Yvonne says

    May 7, 2013 at 12:05 am

    Thank you!! One of the reasons why I haven’t included my affiliate programs into my blog yet….All programs I am affiliate for are things I refer to either way, but I still don’t want to get in trouble 😉

    Reply
  16. Melanie says

    May 7, 2013 at 12:16 am

    This is great to know, for future reference. Thank you 🙂

    Reply
  17. Meli says

    May 7, 2013 at 12:18 am

    Thank you for all of the great information, most of which I was unaware.

    Reply
  18. Daniele Holmberg says

    May 7, 2013 at 12:33 am

    Do you need a disclosure when writing abut restaurants if you were invited to sample the food? How would anyone know you were invited?

    Reply
  19. Tyler says

    May 7, 2013 at 12:38 am

    Good to know!

    Reply
  20. Felecia Armstrong says

    May 7, 2013 at 12:53 am

    Good information thank you.

    Reply
  21. Robin says

    May 7, 2013 at 1:19 am

    Good stuff to know. They’re always changing these things, thanks for making it so easy to understand for us 🙂

    Reply
  22. Misty says

    May 7, 2013 at 1:55 am

    Thank you so much for sharing the FTC guidelines!

    Reply
  23. Christian says

    May 7, 2013 at 2:00 pm

    I review books for a couple of publishers and make sure my FTC disclosure is included in every review.

    Reply
  24. Jason Valasek says

    May 7, 2013 at 3:01 pm

    This great info and is worth to share. I agree to the Disclosures of the Ad. It must be clearly stated within the post.

    Reply
  25. Ann says

    May 8, 2013 at 3:50 pm

    There has been so much confusion and uproar about these new guidelines; thanks for making it simple and concise.

    Reply
  26. Visit Website says

    August 27, 2013 at 3:37 pm

    Terrific Website, Keep up the useful job. Thanks a ton!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Best Practices In FTC Online Advertising Disclosures For Bloggers says:
    May 10, 2013 at 3:53 am

    […] a previous article, available here, I addressed the main issues bloggers should be aware of in the March 2013 Federal Trade Commission […]

    Reply

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