Comments on: Blogger Compliance with the FTC

By: Monetizing blogs and reviews opportunities on FMB | Fuelmyblog - The blog for the exclusive blog community.

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:26:46 +0000

[...] Damien Riley kindly agreed to cover this latest update from the FTC on the FMB blog. Key fact: always disclose paid for reviews [...]

By: Damien Riley

Damien Riley — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:31:28 +0000

You know it’s funny because I hadn’t read the document in full. If anyone is interested in poring through it, it is here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/20689476/FCC-Advertisement-Changes-Effetive-Dec-2009

By: Shopper Diva

Shopper Diva — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:15:24 +0000

Thanks for breaking down the information, i.e. 81-page government report, into a short and sweet blog post – it’s always easier to read that way :)

By: Damien Riley

Damien Riley — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 05:14:05 +0000

Well said. I used to try and argue with Google but I’ve found I can make more money through Adsense than whining about PageRank. Of course PageRank never hurts!

By: Chelle

Chelle — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 03:11:24 +0000

I used to think it was kind of dumb for there to be penalizing for writing paid reviews. But now that I’m trying to rank and compete in search engines it makes me mad. I don’t have $300 in my budget to buy reviews, and so it’s an unfair advantage for those who do… I think that is why Google penalizes for it – they want you to pay for sponsored ad spots at the top of results, not buy your way to rank #1.

By: Damien Riley

Damien Riley — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 04:07:19 +0000

Thanks for the comment. I never thought of that last point you make. I suppose the process will be: 1) Investigate a suspected undisclosed paid review 2) Subpoena the IP 3) Verify that the IP is in the jurisdiction of the United States.

Kind of like illegal downloads, these investigators have their work cut out for them. One thing is for sure, I won’t become their poster boy! I am all about disclosure of any paid reviews I do.

By: Dragon Blogger

Dragon Blogger — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 03:54:22 +0000

Very true, and SocialSpark is one of the best programs as they always have in post disclosures, but this does make a sitewide disclosure pretty much worthless now, since you have to have one in post for each sponsored review.

Note, you have to spell out if it was a “free gift” compensation or monetary compensation, I think it says you have to mention which type of sponsorship. Maybe I misread that though.

This could also make International Bloggers favored by companies that want non-disclosure since they aren’t bound by FTC regulations.