Boggers are Directly Affected By Federal Trade Commission Rules
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On October 5th, 2009 the FTC published and released to the public its final revisions on guides governing endorsements and testimonials.
What does this means for the Bloggers of the world that have affiliate links on their sites?
From what I gather, this means all blogger that have affiliate links that are promoted by endorsement or reivews with now have to state that you get paid a percentage or get compensted for your efforts. quite simply, the viewers on your site will now see that you are affiliated with the products you are promoting because you will now have to state it were they can see it. I will more than likely give it like this, “Thaks for checking this out, just an FYI, if you buy from my link here, I will get a little commission so I’ll just say Thanks in advance. You may be able to find some good legal direction on the internet if you do not already have an attourney. I have no legal training and am not a lawyer. “Yeah, that is a disclaimer.”
This new ruling goes into effect on Dec. 1st, 2009. You are not in a bad situation here and should consider that this could help you by eliminating the bad guys out there that are not honest. What can be bad is if you do not pay close attention to these new rules.
David Goldman, staff writer for CNN Money notes in his article released on October 6th, that the existing rules carry a fine as high as $11,000 if product endorsers and reviewers don’t comply.
Frank Kern really rocked out an awesome article on this subject. do a google search for his name and you will find tons of his posts. Franks article gives some cool stuff that he learned from his lawyer buddy.
So, do yourself a favor and go to the Federal Trade Commission site and read the entire article.
Personally, I think it is great for bloggers that are truthful and want to give great content to help consumers make informed decision on a purchase. Additionally I think it will cut down on the deception out there and give the consumers a better sense of security and good feelings about buying on line again.
Stay tuned for more in the near future!