I’ve been camping on the new FTC Blogging Disclosure Policy guidelines that were released simply to read other people’s reactions and to learn how some of the more thoughtful are approaching this issue.
For anyone who’s curious, the FTC has said the following:
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.
In other words, bloggers are required to fully disclose whether the post or review is in exchange for goods or services. Or, as I’d like to think of it, we’re just asked to do what we should be doing: promoting trust and transparency with what we do and what we blog about.
Mashable says it’s “been long overdue” and another blogger noted:
This is actually good news for everyone. For bloggers, it’s overdue recognition: blogging has now been officially put on the same level of importance as magazines, television and newspapers as an influencer in the buying decisions of the public.
Consumers also win: companies will have a lot to lose if they are caught out sending free products as implied bribes to blogs. And by being forced to disclose their relationships with the companies they cover, blogs themselves will be more credible news sources.
I tend to agree, and even though the new ruling is extremely new and no one really knows how exactly it’ll be enforced it’s best to have it to avoid legal issues if they ever do become an issue.
Read more after the jump…
You can Never Stay too Far above Reproach.
So, this means you should create one!
So what if you don’t get a lot of free loot right now; let’s be champions of doing the right thing! Problogger.net has some great ideas on how to create a “screamingly effective” one if you need to get started.
From Problogger, I’ve captured the following suggestions that I think are valuable:
- Be you in your policy. Make it personal.
- Make it about trust. They trust you.
- Mention the FTC and provide the right linkage.
- Explain benefits, consequences, and focus on value.
- Have fun with it.
Well, get started! I haven’t completed my policy yet but I’m beginning to draft it this week. Here’s what I’ve got so far:
ChurchCrunch Disclosure Policy (In Progress):
At ChurchCrunch we strive to comply with all regulatory law, including the new FTC Ruling for Bloggers. We do this to not only protect ourselves but to provide the most trustworthy and valuable experience for our readers who are the reason we blog!
Please assume the following about all content, copy, and media that you may find on ChurchCrunch.com:
- Every single blog post found on ChurchCrunch has financial impact.
- Every single blog post, can and may be used to promote products, services, affiliate businesses. This includes links within the post, copy, media, and comments by our readers.
- Every product that we receive we get for free and at no cost to the writers.
- There is no guarantee that our reviews of products, services, and/or 3rd-party businesses will be positive in nature; we seek to provide a fair and valuable assessment for our readers first, the business second.
- We provide select advertising opportunities for the right partners and businesses. We also promote affiliate programs that are relevant to our readers. We may not note the use of an affiliate link every time it is used.
- We never promote or endorse a product or service that we do not believe will create high value for our readers.
We love blogging and we love our readers: You are everything to us! We thank you for your support, encouragement, and involvement as we continue to do what we love to do.
@adamrshields says
I agree with the idea that we should be transparent. I am transparent about my book reviews on my site. But what I don't like about the guidelines is that they don't apply to the largest blogs. If you are owned by a corporation or are a full time blogger then the guidelines seem to exempt you. So it is only the small guys, the mom bloggers and those that really aren't getting enough in financial support to make much of a difference that are caught in the guidelines. There are a few blogs like this one that have a good number of followers and are in that middle ground. If you organized this blog as a business and have the ownership of the blog under the organization and not you as a person then you are arguably not bound by the rules. (My understanding of the rules are from reading a couple articles from EFF and other commentary so I may be completely wrong.)
human3rror says
i think your reading is true. this could degenerate, though, from some conversations around the web, into a “letter of the law” and “intent”.
i think though it's better to have one regardless, and it provides value to the readers. just because I don't have to do it doesn't mean that I shouldn't, especially if it does create more value and is helpful, right?
@adamrshields says
I wrote my own policy on my blog a few weeks ago and I think they are good to have, whether the FCC requires them or not. So I agree with you there. My problem is that the rules themselves are bad. Either there should be disclosure rules or they should apply to everyone. Instead, we have rules that only apply to those that affect the smallest number of people. The large blogs that affect a lot of people and need similar rules, are owned by corporations have lobbyist that helped to get the rules written in a way that exempts them.
But what I do think people should know is that those large blogs that promote something are more likely, not less likely to have a promotional deal.
The other issue that I wrote about on my blog is that advertisers and producers might stop working with small bloggers for fear of a FCC violation. So the Thomas Nelson Blogger program and other fairly innovative programs that focus on the small blogger, but don't have control over the actual content, may be replaced with large advertising agreements with large blogs where the company or ad agency actually has control over the content. That would actually end up with a worse situation than what we have now. All the small guys loose their income and ad revenue and the large guys have no disclosure requirements and all the ad money.
human3rror says
adam, you're on top of things. love it.
i can always count on you.
Phillip Gibb says
It seems all a bit too liquid to me. With so much personalization attached it will leave a lot up to interpretation.
Personally I think the FCC should provide a few more rigid options that could be linked to like Creative Commons on feedburner.
But I think it is important to be honest in your intentions to your reading in the more personal form of the disclosure.
human3rror says
FTC = FCC…?
😉
just kidding. yes, it's very fluid. it is what it is.
bondChristian says
Yes, I heard about disclosure policies for the first time in a college class three years ago. At the time, I thought, "Yeah, I should definitely put one of those on my blog, even if I don't have to, just to show off my authenticity. :>) But of course I never did. I kept kicking myself for that because I could have been way ahead of the game instead of waiting until someone makes me do it.
Anyway, I recently did create one – actually I called it an Authenticity Policy – last week. I had fun with it, but I'm sure I'll update it shortly. I know there are already some things I left out (a link to FTC for example). Thanks for the update here. I saw the Problogger post and used it to help write mine, but I enjoy seeing more conversation about it and its implications.
-Marshall Jones Jr.
human3rror says
ooh. i like that. authenticity policy.