New FTC Regulations That Directly Affect Bloggers and Affiliate Marketers

On October 5^th, 2009 the FTC published and released to the public its final revisions on guides governing endorsements and testimonials.

What this means for all Bloggers and Affiliate Marketers is this;

If you are endorsing a product particularly when you are doing a review on it, you must state your relationship with the product owner.

The New FTC Regulations state that the general public must be informed by you that you will be compensated either by a gift or by money from the product owner should the consumer purchase from your link based on your endorsement. So, starting on Dec. 1st, 2009, you may want to attach a little note saying, “This is my affiliate link, if you buy this product after clicking on this link I will be compensated” Just an idea.

Please check out some legal forums and get their advice on this. I am not a lawyer and have no legal background. “Yeah, that is a disclaimer.”

This new ruling goes into effect on Dec. 1^st, 2009. This is not a bad thing for those of you that are honest bloggers. What can be bad is if you do not pay close attention to these new rules.

David Goldman, staff writer for CNN Money notes in his article released on October 6^th, that the existing rules carry a fine as high as $11,000 if product endorsers and reviewers don't comply.

Frank Kern also did a bang up job writing an article post about this. Google him if you don’t already know him. His post puts it all together and just nails it hard with what he learned from one of his lawyer pals.

So, do yourself a favor and go to the Federal Trade Commission site and read the entire article.

Personally, I think it is great for the Affiliate Marketers and Bloggers that are truthful and want to give great content to help consumers make informed decision on a purchase. Additionally I believe this will cut down on the deception that is all over the internet and give the online consumers a better sense of security and warm fuzzy feelings again about buying on line.

Keep Stomping!

Rhonda Giarraffa