(H/T – Robert Stacy McCain)
When I went to BlogWorld in 2007, I remember seeing something about pay-per-post, where companies would pay bloggers to write good stuff about their products. Apparently, the ninnies that can’t read the Constitution over at the Federal Trade Commission just discovered that (either that, or they got into power on 1/20 and got to this point in their checklist). BusinessWeek reports:
But such back-scratching endorsements could become tougher under a coming set of Federal Trade Commission guidelines designed to clarify how companies can court bloggers to write about their products. This summer, the government agency is expected to issue new advertising guidelines that will require bloggers to disclose when they’re writing about a sponsor’s product and voicing opinions that aren’t their own. The new FTC guidelines say that blog authors should disclose when they’re being compensated by an advertiser to discuss a product.
Don’t get me wrong; those that do accept items of value in return for raving about a particular product should disclose that. However, we don’t need the federal government mandating it.
For the record, no corporate entity has ever given me anything in exchange for blog-inches. Of course, the fact that I don’t do reviews has something to do with that.
