Bloggers incensed about new disclosure rules from FTC

Bloggers are wrestling with new rules implemented by the Federal Trade Commission that require them to be more open about whether they get paid to mention products. Companies provide free samples of their products to bloggers they regard as influential, hoping that the bloggers will mention the products and therefore persuade their readers to try the products.

The FTC noted in a post on its website Oct. 5 that it was revising guidelines that have been in existence for many years covering celebrity endorsers (http://bit.ly/5WaI2R).

“We’ve always required that endorsers disclose their relationship with advertisers,” said Mary Engle, associate director, FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection, in a short video on the website. “What’s new here is that we’re applying this principle in today’s world, in the world of social media, where you can’t always recognize an advertisement just by looking at it.”

Bloggers argue that the FTC rules will stifle robust conversations, pointing out, for example, that many so-called “mommy bloggers” who receive free baby care products from companies are not making a living from their blogs, but simply writing them out of a passion for sharing their experiences.

What has bloggers so incensed is that the FTC has definitively said that “the post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement.” Bloggers who receive free products to review object to the FTC’s apparent assumption that they will only write a favorable review of a product they received for free.

Speakers at a recent Social Media Club of Philadelphia gathering also warned bloggers about stiff fines they could face if they fail to adhere to the guidelines.

“If you’re going to have a blog where all you do is positive reviews, you’re a fraud in my opinion,” commented Geoffrey Maugham, a Philadelphia blogger who uses the Twitter name @GoluboiPHL. “The question I have is, what about these regulations has these people [bloggers] up in arms?”

Anne Heckenberger (@Anniemal on Twitter) of the Red Tettermer advertising agency, who moderated the Social Media Club discussion, noted that the FTC, flooded with negative comments from bloggers about the guidelines, shut down the comment process early because of the volume of responses.

Some attendees wondered whether journalistic standards should be applied to bloggers, but Cecily Kellogg, a blogger and social media consultant who also appeared on the panel, argued against that.

“We’re not journalists, we’re bloggers,” she insisted. “It has nothing to do with journalism, it’s completely opinion.”

“Panelist Whitney Hoffman, a lawyer who produces podcasts about learning disabilities, said the more interesting question is whether the FTC’s guidelines are intended to lay the groundwork for government claims that bloggers who receive free merchandise are creating a “taxable event” for themselves. “You go after the big fish first, and one or two little ones, and make a really good example of one or two people and you scare the crap out of everyone else,” she said.

Hoffman said her reading of the guidelines suggests that transparency is important for bloggers.

“If you’re doing a review and you’re disclosing what you got for it, and how you disposed of it, I think that covers it,” she said.

You can watch the entire Social Media Club of Philadelphia discussion about disclosure rules for bloggers as a video podcast at www.compuschmooze. com . steve@compuschmooze.com