Keeping the FTC Away: Blog Endorsements

There are three rules that everyone seems to agree about regarding blogs: One, anything on a blog is fair game for responses from everyone else who sees it. Two, a blogger who wants to blog about his or her employer does so at risk of his or her job. And three, there are no other rules.

But the Federal Trade Commission is considering some new ones for those who endorse products and services in their blogs.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is one of the many government agencies in the United States that protect the public from harmful business practices such as false and deceptive advertising. Among its requirements is one that states that all publishers of articles and testimonials must disclose any connections that they or their writers have to the manufacturers and marketers of goods and services they discuss. The rule currently applies to newspapers, magazines, and other traditional or mainstream media.

If the FTC implements a controversial proposal currently under consideration, bloggers would also be required to disclose such connections. It can then get out of hand to such a point that anyone who chooses to write casually, “I like iPhones and think everyone should get one” in his own blog would have to mention any shares of stock he owns in Apple, any special discount or rebate he received from Apple to buy an iPhone, or any relationship he has to Steve Jobs.

The FTC would take this a step further and compel bloggers to disclose any free review copies they have received. This is a requirement that newspapers, magazines, and other media are not subject to. So if Apple gave a blogger a free iPhone, that blogger would have to disclose that information, whereas The New York Times and Wired magazine would not.

So with all of this compounded, now the case could be made that bloggers don’t count as journalists. The assumption can then be that they’re writing for fun, they don’t get paid, they aren’t working for media outlets, and their posts are usually seen by only a small number of people at most. But given that as of August, 2008, blogs received more than 77 million unique visitors in the United States according to Technorati, the blog-tracking website, it’s clear that blogging has serious potential to really spread the word about a product or service and as an after-effect, make or break reputations. So the FTC has a point about wanting to keep the blogosphere neutral, or at least frank, about products and services discussed within its purview by way of protecting consumers.

In conclusion, when you buy your next Mac, if you choose to blog about it, you need to protect yourself by mentioning any connection you have to its manufacturer or marketers. Otherwise, one bad Apple could damage the whole barrel of blogs.