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FTC Rules Blogs Must Disclose Gifts or Pay for Reviews
GreatDad.com has always posted our policy toward products and gifts featured in our reviews. At one time, the only things that we reviewed were things my wife and I had brought home from the baby store or were given to us by friends and family. Over the years, companies have started sending less products to consider for reviews. While sending us a product doesn’t guarantee that we write a review, we often write reviews of products we try with their own kids. This policy will not change with the new FTC rules. The one partial exception to this policy is the GreatDad.com Recommended seal. In this case, we do charge manufacturers to submit an application for product review, but there again, the fee does not guarantee a good review, or even a reference to the product on our website if the product is not considered good for dads and kids.
For nearly three decades, the Federal Trade Commission’s rules regarding the relationships between advertisers and product reviewers and endorsers were deemed adequate. Then came the age of blogging and social media.
On Monday, the F.T.C. said it would revise rules about endorsements and testimonials in advertising that had been in place since 1980. The new regulations are aimed at the rapidly shifting new-media world and how advertisers are using bloggers and social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to pitch their wares.
The F.T.C. said that beginning on Dec. 1, bloggers who review products must disclose any connection with advertisers, including, in most cases, the receipt of free products and whether or not they were paid in any way by advertisers, as occurs frequently. The new rules also take aim at celebrities, who will now need to disclose any ties to companies, should they promote products on a talk show or on Twitter. A second major change, which was not aimed specifically at bloggers or social media, was to eliminate the ability of advertisers to gush about results that differ from what is typical — for instance, from a weight loss supplement.
[From Advertising - F.T.C. to Rule Blogs Must Disclose Gifts or Pay for Reviews - NYTimes.com]
