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The FTC Blog Rules: Overbroad or Overblown?

By Robert J. Ambrogi

To read reactions to the Federal Trade Commission's new guidelines announced in October (http://ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm) on product testimonials and endorsements, one would conclude that bloggers must now tiptoe through a minefield of disclosures or else face the strong arm of the federal government and penalties of as much as $11,000. Blogs as varied as Fashionista, Wired's Epicenter and CNET's Digital Media warn that any failure by a blog to disclose receipt of a freebie or payment from a company would violate the guidelines and expose the blogger to enforcement action.

Only problem is, the guidelines don't say that. Rather, what they say is that these are among several factors to be weighed in evaluating whether someone who purports to review or endorse a product actually has a “material connection” to the product. The purpose of the guidelines is to require disclosure by reviewers who present themselves as unbiased but who actually are not. This is a laudable purpose.

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