The New York Times published an article this past week about how new Federal Trade Commission regulations will require bloggers to disclose their associations with retailers beginning on December 1st. Folks think this may dramatically decrease the number of giveaways and product reviews on blogs.
An excerpt from the article:
Soon, Bloggers Must Give Full Disclosure
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.
You can read the whole article here.
What do you all think? Do you disclose your associations with retailers or do you want to reserve the right to keep that info confidential?
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