New FTC Endorsement Guidelines – How to Make Sense of Them

There has been a lot of fuss over the new FTC Endorsement Guideline.  Even with the flurry of blog posts from well-respected online marketers, the question seems to still remain: what does it all mean?

It’s always best to start at the source. Let’s hear what Mary Engle has to say, Associate Director – Bureau of Consumer Protection.

Now that doesn’t sound bad at-all does it?  The FTC’s intention seems pure; they want to ensure we are all playing by the same rules and are being ethical.   That being said, the actual changes tell a completely different story.  Trying to create rules based on ethics in an ever changing digital landscape must have been a daunting task.  So in their defense, [not that it is acceptable] they did try, which is the first step of many in creating quality guidelines that will protect us all.  Now, we have to wait and see how and if they enforce the rules as was intended or verbatim.  Hopefully, the FTC will be swift to make the necessary adjustments to put the many bloggers that fear the rules will be enforced verbatim at ease.

If the new FTC Endorsement and Testimonial Guidelines apply to you, after reading the below summaries and before clicking out to read more about this topic, you should download and read the 12-page PDF the FTC issued.

Here are some posts I have found that do a great job elaborating on the new FTC Endorsement and Testimonial Guidelines:

Blog Post #1 – By John P. [a timid and soft-spoken fellow]

Dear FTC, You Can Kiss My Blogging Ass!

John P. is the CEO of iFusion Labs, the parent company of Woopra, host of the popular Wealth Nation podcast, former Chief Marketing Officer for Layered Tech, founder of HTMLHelp.com, and former Vice President for SAVVIS Communications.  John is also co-organizer of WordCamp Dallas 2008, WordCamp Dallas 2009, and likely the most prolific WordCamp videographer on the planet.

Blog Post #2 – Dave Kaminski , Web Video University [He is the most detail-oriented guy I know]

FTC Imposes New Rules For Online Marketers

Dave Kaminski is a professional copywriter, videographer and 10-year veteran of direct response marketing whose work in multimedia advertising has resulted in millions of dollars worth of sales.  A former U.S. Marine, Dave specializes in teaching entrepreneurs how to effectively use web video in their marketing efforts.  Dave also did an audio podcast with Kevin Houchin…an attorney, blogger and author…where Kevin explains what a few of these new rules are and what to do to make sure you are in compliance with them.

Blog Post #3 – Joe Manna, Infusionsoft Community Manager

FTC Drops the Banhammer on Undisclosed Reviews

An experienced and insightful social media professional who aims to improve consumer interactions in business organizations.  Consumer Advocate at heart, Social Media Evangelist by practice.

Blog Post #4 – Chris Brogan [does he even need an introduction—this guy is everywhere, and for good reason]

My Thoughts on the FTC Disclosure Rules and Bloggers

Chris Brogan is President of New Marketing Labs, a new media marketing agency, and home of the Inbound Marketing Summit conferences and Inbound Marketing Bootcamp educational events.  He works with large and mid-sized companies to improve online business communications like marketing and PR through the use of social software, community platforms, and other emerging web and mobile technologies.

Blog Post #5 – Louis Gray [she lives in the heart of Silicon Valley]

FTC Disclosures Made Simple For Bloggers With Conflicts [she created some cool icons to help bloggers disclose]

Most recently, she worked as the director of corporate marketing at BlueArc, a Silicon Valley technology company in the high performance network storage space, from January 2001 to April 2009, with a focus on public relations, demand generation and content creation.  Prior to BlueArc, she was the Web Marketing Manager for 3Cube, a communications application service provider, sold to Oracle in 2001.  Prior to 3Cube, she was an e-commerce analyst for Internet Valley, Inc.

Conclusion

There is a lot of hearsay floating around the internet about the new FTC Endorsement Guidelines.  When you study the new rules, you will quickly realize they are full of holes.  However, the same is with every set of rules I have ever come across.  Rules mean nothing unless they are enforced, and we are yet to see how the FTC really plans to enforce these new rules.  Regardless, we should all do our best to ensure we are disclosing our relationships with advertisers and any source where we receive any sort of reward, be it monetary or not.  Why?  Because it is the right thing to do!

Related Posts

• [summary post] 8 New Blog Posts Covering: Social Media, Blogging, and Web Video Marketing