What are the new FTC requirements for Websites / Blogs?

FTC Requirements regarding Endorsements and Testimonials for Websites and Blogs

Effective December 1st 2009 the Federal Trade Commission has updated its guidelines with regards to endorsements and testimonials which appear on websites, blogs and other e-commerce sites. The guidelines were created after a three year consultation, review and publication period beginning in January 2007 and concluding in October of 2009. So what do these new guidelines mean for you and your website or blog?

The report rolled in at a of length 81 pages but there are two key things that internet marketers need to be aware of and act upon immediately if their websites are affected by the change in guidelines.

First of all you must disclose your relationship to any product on your web page from which you have received, or could receive gain in any form. If you were paid to write a review of a product, you have to disclose it. If you make a commission, or might make a commission, on a product reviewed, promoted or even mentioned on your website, you have to disclose it. If you received a stuffed toy in the mail from a company you mention on your website you should disclose it. Disclose any way in which you have gained, may gain or will gain a benefit from an outside company from your website or blog. This should include not just physical and monetary compensation, but also any discounts you may be liable to receive.

The second critical issue in the FTC’s report is with regards to testimonials and endorsements. In simple terms, if a testimonial is not a TYPICAL result, you must disclose what a TYPICAL result is. For example you may have a testimonial from Sally, 42, from Wisconsin who lost 50lb by following the Super-Eazy-Super-Diet which you are promoting. If this testimonial is true but MOST people who follow the diet do not lose 50lbs, then you must clearly state what the likely results are.

In the past you could get away with, “Results not typical” but this is no longer the case. You now need to write exactly what results the ‘average consumer’ can expect. In this case you might have to say, “The average dieter following this program will lose 2lbs”, or whatever the correct average is. You must state what a typical consumer can expect from the product, not rely on testimonials from atypical consumers. Yes it is hard to know what a typical consumer can expect, but it seems that the FTC does not care about that. They are saying that testimonials have to be matched with a report of typical results and it is up to anyone running a blog or website to make sure they do their best to follow these rules, no matter the difficulties.

A further point to bear in mind if you are the publisher of a product, and not just an affiliate, is that you can be held liable for misrepresentations made by your affiliates. You are expected to monitor people who are paid to promote your product and, in the words of the FTC, “take steps necessary to halt the continued publication of deceptive representations when they are discovered.” Time will tell how stringent the FTC will be in holding publishers accountable for their affiliates. It will be interesting to see how major players such as Clickbank, which is effectively a retailer, will be with affiliates who have web pages which contravene the FTC guidelines.

If you are promoting products as an affiliate it is likely that the publishers of products (the sensible ones at least), will explain how they want you to disclose your relationship. As they are ‘on the hook’ as much as you as a promoter of products it is in their best interest to make sure that their affiliates are following the new FTC guidelines. In order to be safe though, you should make your relationship to the products you promote clear as soon as possible on your blog or website. So far most web pages are creating a ‘disclosure’ page on their site which explains their relationship to publishers and any compensation they have received or are liable to receive. As the FTC hasn’t explicitly stated how disclosures should be made on web pages, this appears to be the current best solution.

The new FTC rules are stringent, and many would say over the top. At the moment we have to rely on the guidelines the FTC have published, but over time we will also be able to see just how they go about enforcing the rules and adjust accordingly. Further announcements may be made, or case law established as the FTC begins to enforce these rules after December 1st. For the time being website and blog owners are urged to protect themselves by disclosing all their affiliate relationships, and either avoid using testimonials or publish “average expected results” alongside any testimonials that are used.

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