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I was checking on Evidence Based Fitness to see if Bryan Chung might have posted something, which he did. It wasn't a research review like I was hoping for (the big busy jerk) but it was a very interesting piece of blog fodder for me.
So Bryan was approached to do a little paid endorsing. Interesting indeed. Just how DO we know where our information is coming from? Well, many times product endorsing is obvious. Some personality does a glowing review of something and you are pretty sure they got paid to do it. Other times it's a quite informative informational piece which inexplicably includes a product endorsement thrown it. Like about every other article at T-Nation.
Well, as Bryan points out, bloggers aren't required to reveal their conflicts of interest. Or are they? One of his commenters posted a link to a Yahoo article which led me to a release by the FTC. I've bolded the pertinent parts. Course I don't see how they could ever enforce it but at least I can post comments in blogs like, "did you get paid to say that" and "if so, where is your conflict of interest statement?" That will be fun.
There is a lot of gray area here as is always the case with these types of things. Many bloggers are concerned and, to me, paranoid about it. After all, there are many honest things that go on. Many people on the web work their butts off to provide useful information to their readers and sometimes use things like affiliate links to make some extra money. I am one of those people.
It is not clear at all that affiliate links should be disclosed but you have to view it on a case by case bases as the FTC will. Many "blogs" are set up for the express purpose of being an affiliate blog and provide review after review of sometimes questionable products for the SOLE purpose of earning commissions. Such sites, to me, should probably be offering disclosures.
I for one, sometimes provide Amazon affiliate links. I have no relationship with the makers of the products I give links to. I do not WORK for Amazon nor am I required in any way, shape, or form to provide any particular links or to say any particular thing. I buy the products that I recommend with my own money. I suggest them when they are a reference or aid and are useful in my honest opinion. I do not earn the value of the products or anywhere NEAR the value of the products that get sold through my links. I earn a very small commission and what's more my site is not a marketing destination. It is an information destination. Should I expressly state every time I drop a link some type of disclosure statement? I don't really think so but on the other hand such honesty is something I am quite open to. It's not like I try to hide it..I only want to be able to go on providing for and helping people for free.
So if you read this and you are thinking, Eric, you should disclose that stuff, I am open to hearing that. On the other hand, if you think, Eric, I think you are an honest guy and would never associate yourself with products you didn't really think were top-notch and I don't think you should have to disclose a couple of links, I am open to that as well! In other words, I don't really care one way or the other. The only reason I haven't routinely done so is that I feel that most people are savvy enough to recognize an affiliate link when they see one and I feel silly appending casual blog posts with "disclosures" because I link to the Trigger Point Workbook or something. By the same token…if I was offered to be paid directly by any person or entity to review a product…the answer would be a resounding and immediate NO. I only "endorse" what I want to endorse when I want to endorse it. Which means I do very little endorsing compared to others in this industry.
Anyway, below is the FTC news release for the new guidelines:
FTC Publishes Final Guides Governing Endorsements, Testimonials
Changes Affect Testimonial Advertisements, Bloggers, Celebrity Endorsements
The Federal Trade Commission today announced that it has approved final revisions to the guidance it gives to advertisers on how to keep their endorsement and testimonial ads in line with the FTC Act.
The notice incorporates several changes to the FTC’s Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising, which address endorsements by consumers, experts, organizations, and celebrities, as well as the disclosure of important connections between advertisers and endorsers. The Guides were last updated in 1980.
Under the revised Guides, advertisements that feature a consumer and convey his or her experience with a product or service as typical when that is not the case will be required to clearly disclose the results that consumers can generally expect. In contrast to the 1980 version of the Guides – which allowed advertisers to describe unusual results in a testimonial as long as they included a disclaimer such as “results not typical” – the revised Guides no longer contain this safe harbor.
The revised Guides also add new examples to illustrate the long standing principle that “material connections” (sometimes payments or free products) between advertisers and endorsers – connections that consumers would not expect – must be disclosed. These examples address what constitutes an endorsement when the message is conveyed by bloggers or other “word-of-mouth” marketers. The revised Guides specify that while decisions will be reached on a case-by-case basis, the post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement. Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service. Likewise, if a company refers in an advertisement to the findings of a research organization that conducted research sponsored by the company, the advertisement must disclose the connection between the advertiser and the research organization. And a paid endorsement – like any other advertisement – is deceptive if it makes false or misleading claims.
Celebrity endorsers also are addressed in the revised Guides. While the 1980 Guides did not explicitly state that endorsers as well as advertisers could be liable under the FTC Act for statements they make in an endorsement, the revised Guides reflect Commission case law and clearly state that both advertisers and endorsers may be liable for false or unsubstantiated claims made in an endorsement – or for failure to disclose material connections between the advertiser and endorsers. The revised Guides also make it clear that celebrities have a duty to disclose their relationships with advertisers when making endorsements outside the context of traditional ads, such as on talk shows or in social media.
The Guides are administrative interpretations of the law intended to help advertisers comply with the Federal Trade Commission Act; they are not binding law themselves. In any law enforcement action challenging the allegedly deceptive use of testimonials or endorsements, the Commission would have the burden of proving that the challenged conduct violates the FTC Act.
The Commission vote approving issuance of the Federal Register notice detailing the changes was 4-0. The notice will be published in the Federal Register shortly, and is available now on the FTC’s Web site as a link to this press release. Copies also are available from the FTC’s Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580.
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