Bloggers: The FTC War Against Internet Fraud is Just a Scouting Mission

Washington, DCIn an effort to take the wind from the sails of the Internet scam and Internet fraud, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) spent a year studying the issue of the marketing and promotion of products via bloggers—and then announced a series of guidelines that go into effect December 1st. In this age of e-commerce and the cyber world in general, the largely un-regulated Internet will have a bit more guidance attached to it.

However, guidance is the word and NOT regulation, according to Mary Engle, the associate director of advertising practices for the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. The announcement two weeks ago had bloggers up in arms, fearing that Big Brother was going to be watching over their every move with a hammer at the ready.

Not so, said Engle Wednesday in a conference call to reporters. "They are guidelines—not rules and regulations—they do not have the force of law," she said.

The FTC has become concerned over the blogging explosion—and more specifically, the relationship some blogs have with advertisers. Fully aware that some blogs have thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of followers, advertisers have been looking to bloggers as the next frontier of advertising to the masses, vs. traditional avenues such as radio, television or newsprint.

And there's nothing wrong with that, says the FTC—so long as the relationship is transparent and fully disclosed. For this reason the FTC will be, after December 1st, keeping a keen eye on the marketer, not the blogger per se.

Engle says bloggers who receive free samples from manufacturers and suppliers and are encouraged to review them are fine, so long as the process is transparent. Many successful bloggers suddenly start receiving free stuff. They didn't ask for it. Nonetheless, disclosure is all the FTC is asking. If you received it for free, say so. If you've been paid, say so. If the supplier articulated certain expectations, disclose that too. Some marketers actually encourage an honest review and will value the negative along with the good.

"The occasional free sample is not something that would change the expectations of the audience. But if that changes, we'd have to regulate it," Engle says. "In general, if someone is reviewing a product and there's no guarantee of coverage, that's not a problem. But that could change if the reviewer is always offering a good review."

In the end, they're just guidelines folks—at least for now. And the marketers are under the microscope, not the bloggers.

For now…