The Federal Trade Commission just updated their policy on endorsements and testimonials and there might be an impact on bloggers.
A few months ago I mentioned that I would love to see the FTC regulate paid and shill blogging. Most reputable bloggers disclose their paid content, show what benefits and swag they receive, etc. If you’re blogging about products that you have been given for free or that you’re being paid to write, you should disclose your bias. Period. Full Stop.
Now, can the FTC really regulate this? Of course they can’t. But, I wouldn’t want to be the first person caught up in this because the FTC will make an example of the first people that find themselves afoul of this law.
Bloggers should see this as a validation of their hobby/business. If the FTC feels that blogging needs regulation, they are slowly figuring out that blogs are a huge influence on people, their lives, and their commercial decisions. In other words, it validates blogs as real, influential and trustworthy news sources.
Libertarian as I might be, I’m looking forward to the implementation of this new rule.
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Hi Eric,
Blogging really needs regulation to make it a fair business, as there are many blogs out there whose sole intention is to make people fool, and earn money somehow, we all have heard of such scams.
FTC may not succeed completely though it ill create a benchmark for the newbies to be alert for the future.