FTC Clarifies Guides for Endorsements Regarding Blogger-Marketer Relations

Back in October the FTC updated its Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising and established precise rules for disclosure when it comes to marketers interacting with online influencers. The news was significant to the digital community because for the first time since 1980, there were specific parameters for digital word of mouth outreach programs.

The FTC recently clarified some of these changes to provide marketers and PR professionals with a better understanding of what the new regulations mean and how they are being enforced – and answered some of the most common questions at length in a new article on its website.

Here is our summary of the key takeaways:

The rumor that bloggers who fail to comply with the Guides can be fined $11,000 is a myth. The FTC notes that press reports to the contrary were wrong, and that there is in fact no fine for not complying with an FTC regulation. If enforcement measures are needed, the advertiser – not the blogger – will be the focus.

Per the FTC, bloggers are NOT held to a higher standard that reporters. According to the Commission, “paper-and-ink” publications are not held to a lesser standard than blogs: “The issue is – and always has been – whether the audience understands the reviewer’s relationship to the company whose products are being reviewed.” When it comes to reviews in newspapers, on TV or on a news-affiliated website, it’s assumed that the reviewer did not buy the product being reviewed. For example, it’s expected that film critics do not front the cost of their own tickets. However, the FTC notes that when it comes to personal blogs, readers often do not expect the reviewer to have a relationship with the brands they mention.

There is no one “right” way to disclose. There are no specific language requirements, buttons or links that must be used in a disclosure. As long as bloggers give readers the information they need to make an informed evaluation (each time they publish a post), they are well within the FTC guidelines. It is, however, necessary to disclose each time a brand/product is mentioned. A single homepage disclosure is not sufficient, per the Guides. Notes the FTC: “A single disclosure doesn’t really do it because people visiting your site might read individual reviews or watch individual videos without seeing the disclosure on your home page.”

The Guides apply to social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook, too. The FTC said that it is not mandating the specific wording of disclosures on these sites – yet the same general principal (that people have the information they need to evaluate sponsored statements) – applies across the board, regardless of the advertising medium. On Twitter, for example, an individual could demarcate a sponsored tweet by using a simple hashtag like #paid or #ad.

Disclosure also applies when talking about your employer or a client for which your company works. This is a somewhat grey area, though the FTC notes that identifying your employer in your Facebook profile is not enough. Someone reading a conversation about a brand or product on Facebook might not know where you work, or which products your company offers – so it’s a “good idea” to note times at which you overtly endorse your employer or client.

Most of us are playing fair. The decision to update the Guides was a preemptive measure. In fact, the FTC notes that most bloggers and marketers were already advocating and practicing proper disclosure. For example, our team of digital publicists at 360i has been adhering to our own Code of Ethics long before the FTC updated its Guides. “It’s for a marketer to take that leap of faith to know that disclosure and authenticity is the only way a brand and consumer are going to have a working relationship in social media,” Sarah Hofstetter, SVP of Emerging Media & Brand Strategy, said in a Oct. 2009 Adweek interview.

For more information, read our complete POV on the Updated Guides for Endorsements. The FTC welcomes questions from bloggers and marketers at endorsements@ftc.gov.

-Izzy Forman, Associate Director, Digital Publicity, 360i