Responsible affiliate companies are contacting their people to advise them about how the new FTC guidelines may affect their business.
Here is a recent communication from Azoogleads.com that should be read by any blogger of affiliate marketer.
The following is a list of the most important revisions made in the Guides:
- Endorsements must reflect the honest opinions and true experience of the endorser. If paid actors are used, this fact must be disclosed.
- Endorsements may not contain any representations which would be deceptive, or could not be substantiated, if made directly by the advertiser.
- Endorsements must be representative of what consumers can reasonably expect to achieve. Any claim made by the endorser must reflect the opinion or experience of a significant proportion of consumers. Disclaimers like “results not typical” are no longer sufficient.
- All material connections between the advertiser and the endorser (including research or medical organizations) that consumers would not expect must be disclosed, including free products or monetary compensation.
The full text of the guidelines is available here:
http://www.ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005endorsementguidesfnnotice.pdf
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