More fun from big brother! It seems that the FCC has just announced that they will be fining all bloggers and social media posters up to $11,000 PER POST for promoting any company or product for which the bloggers has received monetary compensation or free products without disclousre to the reader.
Apparently in order to avoid this fine all bloggers and those who are posting promotional content on social media sites and their own blogs now need to disclose in the post when any monetary or product compensation for the endorsement took place.
The FCC sites that the reasoning behind this is to protect consumers and provide more transparency for the Internet surfer.
It is unclear as to the parameters of endorsement, I mean if I write a book review and I recommend the book, is that an endorsement, or what FCC considers advertising?
We can thank all the Internet scammers for this, as it seems that more and more fake blogs and false advertisements are being perpetrated on the net and the FCC feels the need to protect visitors.
Also, I'm not sure how easy it will be to enforce these guidelines, and the FTC admits that these are not exactly laws, but just guidelines, they say:
The Guides are administrative interpretations of the law intended to help advertisers comply with the Federal Trade Commission Act; they are not binding law themselves. In any law enforcement action challenging the allegedly deceptive use of testimonials or endorsements, the Commission would have the burden of proving that the challenged conduct violates the FTC Act.
So, I guess we need to watch our posts and paid reviews especially. I do not think this applies to affiliate links, this is only for those posts that endorse a product or company for which you were paid directly.
If you want to learn more about this and read the fine print, here is the link to the FCC doc, it's a PDF file and the section that pertains to this regulation starts on page 55.
Personally I think this is just more of the government trying to regulate free flow of information on the net, and rescuing buyers from any personal responsibility.
The Internet is all about information, as a blogger do I not have the right for free speech and personal opinion? And as a consumer do you not have the responsibility to be vigilant?
What do you guys think about this?
I think this is a positive thing overall… there has been proliferation of scam sites lately, and this is a great way for the government to take action against them. I’m personally looking forward to scammers getting their comeuppance.
Like you said, the Internet is about information, might s well make it accurate information. And like you also said, these are just guidelines, so I think most bloggers will not be affected, unless they are really high traffic sites making egregious violations.
-Casual
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An endorsed product should be mentioned clearly that the review was in favor of the manufacturer. Or if the person who reviews it should really be satisfied with the product itself!
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Well, I really don’t see how this is going to protect the consumers and site visitors. Scammers can just keep lying like they always do.
I would say if you read a good book and recommend it to your readers, there’s nothing special you need to add as you weren’t paid for that recommendation. That’s what these “guidelines” are referring to, correct?
Only if you’re being paid or compensated in some way for writing a review would you then need to state so.
I still don’t see how this is going to make any difference. Just another bogus reason for the government to get involved.
I think consumers do need to be protected from scammers, but the fact is unless you remove the scammers, then the task is impossible. They just make more work for us honest marketers.
.-= Alan @ Work From Home´s last blog ..New TwitterLink Comments Plugin Installed =-.
@Alan
Yes, apparently if they pay you for review AND if they sent you a book and you reviewed it, negative or positive you still have to say that the book author or publisher sent you the book and this is a paid review. I agree with you Alan, the scammers will never stop.
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I can understand why they feel the need to do this because of the scammers…there are a lot of them out there. But I think the govt is going to start encroaching on our online businesses more and more.
Just this morning, I was reading a local newspaper editorial saying how our state govt (Florida) is missing out on all this “revenue” because they don’t tax online retailers. As if they have a right to tax them!
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@Eunice
Yes you are right. And more and more states want to follow the NY affiliate tax law now too, we just fought it in Cali and won for now, but other states are trying to enact it and as NY affiliates suffered due to big affiliate programs canceling them, all other state affiliates who enact the Affiliate Tax will suffer as well.
I actually do not think this is a bad idea. It will let people know when they are reading biased material…like those airplane magazines where is say above the fold “this is an advertisement…”
Brad
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@Christmas Store Online,
“It will let people know when they are reading biased material…”
This is exaclty what I’m saying. I much prefer it myself . This way, if I see a review with no cons to go with the pros it does tend to seem fishy.
.-= Dennis Edell´s last blog ..Mistakes To Avoid While Designing Your Landing Page – Guest Post =-.
I think it’s a good start, it would make bloggers more careful because some sort of penalty by advertising products which are scam or doesn’t really work will really work. I am wondering, those who promote products from ClickBank etc will still have to mention in every post that it’s a clickbank product?
Overall, I am in support because these days scammers are really cashing in by fooling people. As you said, it’s going to be a bit difficult for genuine bloggers but you can always mention in the post that you haven’t received any money for the review and that was done for free because of the great book etc. I am sure the authorities would judge the difference b/w a good blogging site and a bad blogging site.
Ryan Mathys
I certainly can understand their need to regulate it to an extent because of all the spammers. However, in my opinion, they have gone a little overboard with this one. It hurts honest business people and won’t have much affect on the dishonest ones. Plus, can’t consumers do their own due diligence. If something doesn’t seem right then don’t buy it!
.-= Trent @ Work from Home´s last blog ..Working From Home Productivity Ideas =-.
@Trent
I agree with you, the scammers will not care and consumers need to make smart decisions.
There are a lot of little things that we overlook that can help you increase your search engine rankings.
And like you also said, these are just guidelines, so I think most bloggers will not be affected, unless they are really high traffic sites making egregious violations.
Hi there, personally I think it is the governments attempt to police even more of our own free speech and I don’t agree with it all…The very thing that has made the internet such a success is the ability of people to freely share their ideas and views…and yes even dare I say it reviews or endorsements of other products…I can’t see that this is going to be possible to manage of enforce..how many new blogs and sites are created each day? A lot!!..Thanks for the info
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@Internet Marketing Consultant, Exactly! Apparently the government feels that people can’t think for themselves and do their own due diligence. I guess we need the government to think for us! What a bunch of bull.
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OMG.. don’t let the big brutha’ strike once again.
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Don’t you think this is a little ridiculous though because it will only apply to US bloggers or blogs hosted in the US.
@Logo Design,
Lol, of course, if you host your site on a server in another country then you can avoid all this, and the scammers know this.
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I haven’t read through the PDF, but I heard that we can’t talk about specific results, and we can’t use income statements.
Is this true?
I would think that doing these things would “benefit” the consumers. Isn’t that what the FTC wants to do? If anything we could state that we’re not implying that anyone will make the same amount or achieve the same results.
This whole thing has just gotten out of hand.
.-= Alan @ Work From Home´s last blog ..Flip Switch Profits Review – A Realistic Way To Make Money Online? =-.
@Alan
I am not sure, I have not heard that. I agree, it’s out of hand, all the regulating, it’s just going to get worse as time goes on and the laws catch up to the Internet
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@JR, Yeah, the only problem is the law is changing and starting to cross the boundaries.
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I know that on one of our niche blogs we get sent products on a regular basis to review. We always say that the product was provided free to us to review. I think it sounds better anyway to be upfront as you come across as being honest and more trustworthy.
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What the FCC needs to spend time doing is going after all the scammer MMO bloggers flogging crap products to unsuspecting people. This is where the real problem lies, not with Joe the Internet Marketer writing semi-truthful reviews on fungal cream.
.-= Arnold @ Sytropin´s last blog ..Sytropin Review =-.
@Arnold
LOL, I agree!
Just this morning, I was reading a local newspaper editorial saying how our state govt (Florida) is missing out on all this “revenue” because they don’t tax online retailers. As if they have a right to tax them!
When I first read this I was thinking it pertained to affiliate marketers but now I’m not really sure. It wouldn’t surprise me if they tried to go after affiliates but I guess we will see where this all ends up.
Man, what a crock! Why can’t the government just stay out of our lives?
I’m all for anything that helps clean up the garbage that is online but hopefully they don’t step on the little man who tries to have a couple of successful websites. I guess we will see where this goes in the future.
Well, I really don’t see how this is going to protect the consumers and site visitors. Scammers can just keep lying like they always do.
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I for one prefer to know when a review was paid for, don’t you?
Btw, I’m baaaaack. See below.
=-.
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@Dennis Edell,
Well, well, well, the prodigal son returns, welcome back!
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@JR, Oh dear girl, you weren’t a silly thinkin’ you got rid of me were ya?
=-.
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>> So, I guess we need to watch our posts and paid reviews especially. I do not think this applies to affiliate links, this is only for those posts that endorse a product or company for which you were paid directly.
I think it’s difficult to say. Many laws are vaguely worded so that those in charge have some wriggle room to hit you with any charges they like. If laws were clearly written, there would be no need for lawyers.
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OT, but looks like Google just rolled through with another toolbar PR update.
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@SeductionList Directory,
Yes they did, I haven’t had a chance to post about it yet
@JR,
Cool, this blog is usually the first place I read about these from, so I was just giving you a heads up.
-Casual
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@SeductionList Directory,
Thank you, I have been so busy haven’t had a chance to pay much attention here, will make a post tomorrow, I actually find out by accident from another blog
I can understand why they feel the need to do this because of the scammers…there are a lot of them out there.
Jack
I too think this is a positive, this will make it hard for spammers.
But what do we do if we did something like this say 2 years go and have totally forgotten about it? Will they give leniency or will they just slap people with fines?
Also does this apply to non US residents?
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@Internet Business Coaching,
The FCC only has jurisdiction over US territories, this would not apply to residents but likely to websites hosted on US servers. I doubt this would be retroactive, it only applies after the policy/law is in effect.
Follow Me on Twitter @: DennisEdell
(224 comments)
So to sum up a bit – basically if you promote ANYTHING that you earn from (affiliate products, reviews, etc) you must say this is a paid endorsement…correct?
.-= Dennis Edell´s last blog ..Mistakes To Avoid While Designing Your Landing Page – Guest Post =-.
@Dennis Edell,
NO, not affiliate products, it’s my understanding this is for paid reviews only, so if someone pays you cash or in sends you a free product to write about, then that is a paid review, affiliate links are not included.
I believe this is a good thing. A lot of people look up to bloggers as experts. It’s just proper that they disclose if they’re being paid for the “reviews”.
I think the government is just trying to get their in in the pocket of everyone they can
I too think this is a positive, this will make it hard for spammers.
But what do we do if we did something like this say 2 years go and have totally forgotten about it? Will they give leniency or will they just slap people with fines?
@ Fashion
Who knows, I suspect if they catch you and you are unlucky enough to be caught then I doubt that “I forgot about this” will be a good excuse.
I have heard a lot about the FTC rules since late 2009, but wondered if it applies to blogger around the world, or just US and Canadian people? I am asking this because I am New Zealand based.
I guess its still very hard to fine people for not informing visitors complete.
1) What if the domain Whois data is set on privacy setting?
2) the contact posted on domain registration is outdated
That is what i was just considering?
How exactly are they going to enforce it??
have anybody seen anyone who has been penalized?
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