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New FTC Rules and Guidelines – How Does This Apply to Advertising?

By Karen Brunet | December 5, 2009

Here’s another highlight from the interview between Jim Edwards and FTC assistant deputy, Mr. Rich Cleveland. It’s regarding advertising and affiliate disclosures.

new-ftc-rules-advertising

FTC guidelines still apply to advertising just as they always have. But from what I gathered during the interview, you don’t need to put an affiliate disclosure on advertising if it clearly looks like an ad.

Their reasoning is that consumers understand that paid advertising means that someone is making money from a sale. So graphic and text ads that look like an advertisement do not need to have affiliate disclosures attached to them.

The FTC is concerned about endorsements that look like personal recommendations or neutral reviews but are in fact advertisements. They consider that misleading and want to put a stop to it.

Solution: If you want to avoid using disclosures in your promotion, then just make sure the promotion clearly looks like an ad, whether it is a graphic ad or a text ad.

Personal Observation: Of course, their new guidelines can only be enforced on people within the US. So I don’t know how effective the new guidelines will be at stopping the false advertising. Without the cooperation of the whole world, I still won’t know for sure when I’m reading a review if the person who wrote it was paid to write it or if it is their honest option.

Have you heard anything else about disclosures and advertising? If so, please leave a comment and let us know.

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If you want to listen to the entire interview between Jim Edwards and Mr. Rich Cleveland, Assistant Deputy at the FTC, you can hear it here: www.igottatellyou.com/blog/ftc-change-interview.

As always, please note that no legal advice is dispensed in this article or on our website, and any information or opinions shared are for educational and entertainment purposes only. If you want legal advice, please seek the services of an attorney for your particular circumstances.

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