Comments on: FTC takes on pay-per-post

By: ChazRadical,Coral Springs,Florida

ChazRadical,Coral Springs,Florida — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:13:40 +0000

For small blogger using Google Adsense or clones, I would hope that a Privacy Policy (you can generate all you need at serprank.com) and maybe a blog page on affiliate links and relationships would be enough.
A simple statement in the footer of each page to refer to the Privacy Policy and FTC Disclosure page should be enough to put the reader on notice.
From a legal standpoint, nothing will matter until after December 1st. Just because some bureaucrats change the rules of the game does not make it law.
The danger for the individual is becoming a target.

By: Lainey, Omaha, NE

Lainey, Omaha, NE — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:16:40 +0000

I'm totally on-board with disclosing products you received for free, free tickets to events or free trips, etc. But as far as reporting on or writing about advertisers products, that is something big pubs do ALL THE TIME. Vogue writes about Ralph Lauren, Gucci, etc., in every issue. Advertisers often request to be placed alongside these editorials.

By: Ned H., San Diego, CA

Ned H., San Diego, CA — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:10:16 +0000

Bloggers who use Google Web Ads have no control over which advertisements are shown to viewers. In fact, the web ads are designed to appear when certain keywords are mentioned in web site articles. For example, if I have a blog, and write an article about Burger King, it is very likely that a Burger King advertisement will show up on a Google Ad. Bloggers such as the Amateur Gourmet, have no control over what ads are displayed by Google's AdSense Service. Maha Atal; I think you should have made these facts more clear!

By: Bria, Los Angeles, CA

Bria, Los Angeles, CA — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 15:42:18 +0000

I'm not sure I understand why AdSense ads would fall into the new guidelines. The guidelines define, in part, endorsements as advertising messages that "consumers are likely to believe reflects the
opinions, beliefs, findings, or experiences of a party other than the
sponsoring advertiser." Has anyone ever looked at an AdSense link on a blog and decided it reflected the opinions, beliefs, findings, or experiences of the blogger? I think you are misreading the new language of Section 255.5. Read example 7, and see that the focus of the example is on the fact that the relationship between the blogger and the advertiser is not inherently obvious to consumers. That is decidedly not the case with targeted blog ads.

I suggest a read of the Federal Register Notice regarding the new guides. The narrative at the beginning provides ample discussion of the comments raised during the review process for the new guidelines. It's available on the FTC website.

By: Douglas, Atlanta, Georgia

Douglas, Atlanta, Georgia — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 15:10:42 +0000

I am very confused about this article. I have been a frequent reader of the Amateur Gourmet's home recipes and restaurant reviews for the last few years now. In that entire time, I have never seen him endorse any product that was featured in one of his web ads. I'm sure CNN and Fortune Magazine has never held back any negative stories on any of their large advertisers…

By: Dr Bill Toth Houston, TX

Dr Bill Toth Houston, TX — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:57:15 +0000

When will people learn that Honesty, Integrity, polite speech, morality and especially common sense are character traits and can never be "legislated" into existence.

Live with Intention,
Dr Bill Toth

By: jay - hcm

jay - hcm — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 06:11:38 +0000

It is not free speech when payment is asked or given. It is a paid advertisement

By: Boston

Boston — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 23:22:45 +0000

We at RainyDayMagazine have no problems with posting a notice to make it clear that we get our review items from the manufacturers for free.

We don't think readers much care as long as the reviews are detailed and the conclusions are based on direct experiences.

It is our expectation that this new rule will actually be good for bloggers as sites such as our who are willing to invest the time to look in-depth at the products will have credibility regardless of whether we had purchased the reviewed items or not.

Sincerely,
RainyDayMagazine