The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) just frightened the hell out of mommy bloggers and product bloggers everywhere by creating rules that bloggers who fail to disclose they were given freebies to write about a product can now be fined up to $11,000 per post.
These new guidelines, FTC Guide Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising says that bloggers who receive “cash or in-kind payment to review a product” must disclose the fact of this payment on their blog.
When I receive a free product or service or overnight stay for my blogging or travel writing, I usually just handle it with a quick, “I received a free _____ courtesy of the fine folks at ________,” I think bloggers need to create a new official statement that sits at the bottom of every blog post, sort of like a photographer’s credit or stringer’s byline at the bottom of a news article.
Because the Federal Trade Commission sucks, the product or service I wrote about in this post was given to me free by the manufacturer/distributor.
About Erik Deckers
What a waste of FTC time and resources. The public’s been swindled out of trillions of dollars by large corporations and banks, but hey, we gotta stop mommy bloggers from recommending a diaper brand without telling us they got a free pack of diapers. Sheesh. Government sucks all around!
.-= Chuck Lasker´s last blog ..10 Reasons Why I Prefer the Miva Merchant Shopping Cart =-.
Well this really sucks. I’ve always disclosed that the product I was writing about was a freebie or a paid post though I have had one company demand that I remove the disclosure. Most of the mommy blogs I visit have a page dedicated to their disclosure policy so hopefully there won’t be too many who get socked with this outrageous fee.
.-= Jen´s last blog ..Google Stopped Loving Me =-.