FTC to bloggers – Disclose or pay a fine

The FTC has changed the guidelines which will affect many affiliate programs on the Internet. Many bloggers write posts reviewing products and for these reviews they sometimes get paid. The FTC now says that bloggers must disclose any relationships they have with these advertisers or face a civil fine of up to $16,000 dollars. Specifically the announcement states:

"The revised Guides also add new examples to illustrate the long standing principle that ‘material connections’ (sometimes payments or free products) between advertisers and endorsers – connections that consumers would not expect – must be disclosed. These examples address what constitutes an endorsement when the message is conveyed by bloggers or other “word-of-mouth” marketers.The revised Guides specify that while decisions will be reached on a case-by-case basis, the post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement. Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service."

This may cause a lot of bloggers to rethink the way they run business when doing what is normally termed as paid reviews. Now while this looks like it may only pertain to paid type review post where the blogger wither receives a cash payment or some sort of gift for reviewing the product, it may also apply to affiliate offers. Many bloggers sprinkle links throughout blog posts to site where if the visitor decided to visit the site and purchase something then the blogger will get a commission. This is fairly standard practice across blogs as a form of advertisement.

Perhaps the government is worried about the influence the blogosphere has on public opinion and is now enacting guidelines meant to stifle the growth of the blogosphere. At one time information could be controlled, but now its very hard to keep information quiet as it can be published worldwide in a matter of minutes. No longer can they control how information is disseminated from a variety of voices. If the FTC attacks the revenue streams of these bloggers then it stands to reason that many will quit and no longer voice their opinion.

Personally we promote affiliate programs on this blog as the hosting expense is quite high. While we may make some money we don’t make enough to earn a fulltime living. This is true of a lot of bloggers and websites. People write because they enjoy it and for many its a hobby. Why should we regulate hobbies?

For the record we never perform any paid posts or receive freebies for posts we have published on this site.

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