Goal Electronic Marketing

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has published a fairly wide reaching set of revised guides that directly impact many people doing business (or planning to) Online, so you need to be familiar with them...and BEWARE.

Failure to comply with these "guidelines" (read RULES here) can put a WORLD of hurt on your business, not to mention your wallet, so Get Educated!

You can find the quoted release HERE, and the entire text of the revised endorsement guides HERE, but quick and dirty, here's the gist of the latest pronouncements from our faithful Government Servants.

Quotes from the FTC's release on 10/05/2009:

Under the revised Guides, advertisements that feature a consumer and convey his or her experience with a product or service as typical when that is not the case will be required to clearly disclose the results that consumers can generally expect. In contrast to the 1980 version of the Guides - which allowed advertisers to describe unusual results in a testimonial as long as they included a disclaimer such as "results not typical" - the revised Guides no longer contain this safe harbor.

As I read it, from now on, if you use a testimonial that contains any sort of example "result" such as a claim of income, pounds lost, etc.- you will need to include a very clear statement as to the results that CAN be expected by the "typical" user...and be prepared to Back It Up.

The revised Guides also add new examples to illustrate the long standing principle that "material connections" (sometimes payments or free products) between advertisers and endorsers - connections that consumers would not expect - must be disclosed. These examples address what constitutes an endorsement when the message is conveyed by bloggers or other "word-of-mouth" marketers. The revised Guides specify that while decisions will be reached on a case-by-case basis, the post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement. Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service. Likewise, if a company refers in an advertisement to the findings of a research organization that conducted research sponsored by the company, the advertisement must disclose the connection between the advertiser and the research organization. And a paid endorsement - like any other advertisement - is deceptive if it makes false or misleading claims.

As I read THAT, from now on, if you are making a DIME off of any of the products you are reviewing or recommending, then you better be prepared to fully disclose this prominently on your blog or site, and that ain't gonna be good for biz...Can you say "Death Of An Affiliate Review Site"?

Celebrity endorsers also are addressed in the revised Guides. While the 1980 Guides did not explicitly state that endorsers as well as advertisers could be liable under the FTC Act for statements they make in an endorsement, the revised Guides reflect Commission case law and clearly state that both advertisers and endorsers may be liable for false or unsubstantiated claims made in an endorsement - or for failure to disclose material connections between the advertiser and endorsers. The revised Guides also make it clear that celebrities have a duty to disclose their relationships with advertisers when making endorsements outside the context of traditional ads, such as on talk shows or in social media.

Now that won't apply to the vast majority of people reading this...or WILL it? Define "celebrity". Now I'm no Rock Star, but I'm pretty well known in the Online Marketing world. Does that constitute "celebrity", and do I need to start agonizing over every tweet I make? I don't know.

One thing I DO know is that we all need to become very familiar with these new guidelines and act accordingly, because I guarantee that the FTC WILL. Don't believe me?

Ask Frank Kern and Perry Belcher, folks ;-)

DISCLAIMER: I am NOT an Attorney, and nothing in this article should be construed as giving legal advice. I urge you to contact your own attorney and ensure that your online business complies with the law and with all FTC rules and regulations.