FTC Expected To Crack Down On Bloggers' Sponsored Posts

BusinessWeek:

...[b]ack-scratching endorsements could become tougher under a coming set of Federal Trade Commission guidelines designed to clarify how companies can court bloggers to write about their products. This summer, the government agency is expected to issue new advertising guidelines that will require bloggers to disclose when they're writing about a sponsor's product and voicing opinions that aren't their own. The new FTC guidelines say that blog authors should disclose when they're being compensated by an advertiser to discuss a product.

Read the whole story: BusinessWeek

Comments

[IndelibleVoice]

Great idea, but hard to enforce.

There are many bloggers out there, large and small and it would take an army to police them all to catch a few...

[NABNYC]

How typically absurd. The national government will come down hard on home-based bloggers to force them to publish disclaimers if they've received a penny from anyone. But what about the federal government employees? Do they have to disclose to the citizens the amount of bribes they take, every single day, to pass rules and laws like this ridiculous one? Isn't this sponsored by some corporate media that wants to eliminate bloggers? Or maybe the RNC?

How about this. How about if every single time there is debate on any issue, or a vote, every person in Congress and the President must stand up and recite every penny they've received from any interested person or corporation, every communication they've received from corporations trying to buy their vote. Now that would be worthwhile.

[bunnyv]

"...recite every penny they've received..."

I second that!

[RobinSeattle]

So would this extend to all the product placement for Disney we see on this site?

[texastrixie]

Anyone with enough savy to research purchases on the internet is going to have enough brains to take any review of a product with caution. Most of the business-related postings on HuffPo are touting a view of the world that advances their business model. Good for the govt, but really, probably overkill.

[Mnemanth]

Look out! Here comes the Tax Man!

[noamjunior]

good idea- completely unenforceable

[ThomasMc]

Truth on the internet? That'll be the day.

[oakley9]

What a joke! Truth in advertising left us many years ago. The FTC now wants to waste more tax dollars enforcing something the media has been doing for years with their blessing. Where have they been? Are they going to go after "so called" legit TV networks, News, magazines an newspapers for the same thing? I doubt it.