ftc

FTC is the abbreviated name assigned to the Federal Trade Commission, the federal government agency charged with making sure all is fair in love and trade as relates to the American consumer. The agency was established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act to promote consumer protection and combat anti-competitive practices, such as monopolies.

More recently, the FTC has represented three letters striking fear into the hearts of bloggers everywhere, as the agency has begun to take steps towards regulating the wild, wild west world of the blogosphere.

Specifically, as of December 2009, the FTC will begin requiring full disclosure of any payments made to bloggers in exchange for product endorsements.

Such payments would include not only monetary compensation, but also products bloggers often receive for review purposes — which in theory could mean anything from cars, trips, and the like, to the CDs, DVDs, and books thousands of bloggers routinely write about at sites such as Blogcritics Magazine.

As could be expected, bloggers have a lot to say about the FTC — and you'll find them talking about it at sites like Google Blog and Huffington Post.

by Glen Boyd Are you a writer, passionate about this or any other topic? Join Blogcritics!

Latest blogosphere posts tagged “ftc”

• TVI Express Review- Pyramid Scheme Or Legit Opportunity?

  
  $ucce$$-Team — Authority: 146
  TVI Express Review TVI Express has created quite a stir around the home based business industry. It was launched from the UK and then touched China and also India. The chineese and Indians are raving about this type of program which is perfectly fine, but as US members you may have to worry about the money ...
  7 hours ago

• FTC Settlements Bar Deceptive Online Marketing of "Free" Internet Auction Kits

  
  WorkAtHomeTruth.com Blog — Authority: 423
  11/19/2009 FTC Press Release Defendants Could Pay More Than $1 Million for Failing to Disclose Terms of Recurring-Fee Plan An online marketer of purportedly “free” Internet auction kits, which automatically charged unwitting consumers $59.95 a month for enrollment in an “online supplier” program for ...
  8 hours ago

• 123 Lump Sum, 123 Lump Bums?

  
  Structured Settlements 4Real: What's Real in the Structured Settlements, Settlement Planning, Settlement Consulting and Litigation Recovery Management Space? — Authority: 431
  Responding to my post " Fast Cash Now Is a Bunch of BS " reader Elizabeth Baker writes: " My mother is also going through 123 lump sum and it was approved by the courts in February 2008 and they told her it would be for sure on the 20th 2009 of November.it has came and no money.she has been very patiant (sic) ...
  1 day ago

• New FTC Rules For Bloggers And What They Mean

  
  Small Business Mavericks — Authority: 129
  My inbox has been buzzing with e-mails about the new FTC Guidelines pertaining to endorsements that go into effect on December 1st – specifically about how they pertain to bloggers. Lots of people have questions about what these new Guidelines mean and what changes they need to make to stay compliant.As with ...
  2 days ago

• When the government and internet advertising collide

  
  U.S. Common Sense — Authority: 121
  There has been some talk in Washington lately that has caught my attention. Yes, I know that sounds like a strange comment for a political blogger to make but hear me out. For those of us who do business online (in my case, offer online advertising and do reviews), the Federal Trade Commission is talking about taking ...
  2 days ago

• WAHS Podcast #66 Marketing Laws – New FTC Guidelines

  
  Work At Home Success News and Reviews — Authority: 127
  This week I cover laws that that govern what’s okay and not okay in marketing plus the new FTC Guidelines for endorsements by bloggers. You can listen online here: Or Download here: You can also subscribe through iTunes. Resources Mentioned On the Show Federal Trade Commission ...
  2 days ago

• Google The Totalitarian?

  
  The Precursor Blog by Scott Cleland — Authority: 514
  Connecting the dots of several recent important developments, Google increasingly is acting autocratically like it has unlimited power and is answerable to no one. More and more it appears to operate like a centralized, sovereign, virtual-State exercising control over the worlds information, info-commerce and ...
  2 days ago

• The recipe for a worse Internet

  
  Adotas — Authority: 547
  DM Confidential - I think we have all heard the expression the customer is always right. It’s a saying that somehow the majority of American consumers have internalized, acting with a growing sense of entitlement. As consumers, we don’t mind such coddling, but when on the other side of the fence, with our business ...
  2 days ago

• How FTC Guides Affect Social Media Marketing

  
  ClickNewz! Internet Marketing Blog — Authority: 514
  Mike Hays asked: Lynn, have you seen any reference in the Dec 1 guidline changes as to what you can say on social media sites i.e. Twitter? I reread your blog posts as well as the FTC pdf doc and I only saw one reference to social media having to do with a celebrity posting to a social media site. I searched the ...
  2 days ago

• Pre-Paid Legal Services reveals it may be sued by FTC

  
  PogoWasRight.org — Authority: 151
  Pre-Paid Legal Services Inc. issued a press release today indicating that it may be sued by the Federal Trade Commission over its Identity Theft Shield and Affirmative Defense Response System (”ADRS”) Program: Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. (NYSE: PPD) announced that on November 18, 2009, we received a ...
  3 days ago

• Virtual Goods, Offers, and Scams: Part 1

  
  ReveNews — Authority: 412
  There’s been alot of hype and debate around the concepts of virtual goods and offers due to a few high flying companies which have been media darlings. The highest profile company in question is Zynga, athough other social gaming sites and social networks have employed similar tactics. All have enormous user bases ...
  3 days ago

• FTC threatens fines, jail for online check service operators

  
  ShareConnector — Authority: 160
  The Federal Trade Commission has charged those behind the shady online check service Qchex with contempt, and wants daily fines imposed on them until they give up the ghost. The group has launched a new site—a Qchex clone—with the same questionable policies that made Qchex a “dinner bell for fraudsters.” This ...
  3 days ago

• FTC threatens fines, jail for online check service operators

  
  Ars Technica — Authority: 758
  The Federal Trade Commission has charged those behind the shady online check service Qchex with contempt, and wants daily fines imposed on them until they give up the ghost. The group has launched a new site—a Qchex clone—with the same questionable policies that made Qchex a "dinner bell for fraudsters." This has ...
  3 days ago

• A Lesson on the New FTC rules for bloggers

  
  Stompernet SEO Course — Authority: 166
  These new guidelines are coming at us very fast and are likely highly mis-understood by the public. People that need to be aware of the compliance regs include but are not limited to: speakers, authors, affiliate marketers, bloggers, information product creators, health care professionals, advertising and PR agencies, ...
  3 days ago

• FTC Releases Guide to Help Parents Talk to Their Kids About the Web

  
  ReputationDefender Blog — Authority: 516
  The Federal Trade Commission recently released a new guide to help parents talk to their kids about the internet. Released through the FTC program, OnGuard Online, the guide is titled Net Cetera: Chatting With Kids About Being Online . Here is a description of the guide from the FTC: “Kids and parents have many ...
  3 days ago

• NOCO Digital Gunslingers Get A Lesson on the New FTC Rules for Bloggers

  
  AnyGeo - A GISuser Blog about GIS and Location Technologies — Authority: 131
  Here in Fort Collins, Colorado we are treated each week to a casual, social media training session organized by Nick Armstrong of WTF Marketing (@imnickarmstrong) in what’s known as the Digital Gunslingers meet-up. This past week we were treated to a session organized by nick… Show this post on Google map...
  3 days ago

• Google Banned Me For Life

  
  Inside the Internet Marketing Mind — Authority: 482
  I’m about to rant a little bit, but the article Google Fights to Protect Itself Against Ad Scammers is making me re-live the last few months (as well as make a bit more sense on what is going on!) Just to fill you in, on September 1st I woke up in the morning to find my traffic to TheWebReviewer.com to be quite ...
  3 days ago

• Virtual Goods, Offers, and Scams: Part 1

  
  Affiliate Marketing | Affiliate Networks — Authority: 144
  There’s been alot of hype and debate around the concepts of virtual goods and offers due to a few high flying companies which have been media darlings. The highest profile company in question is Zynga, athough other social gaming sites and social networks have employed similar tactics. All have enormous user bases ...
  3 days ago

• Apparently Mom Bloggers Are Interested in Only One Thing

  
  Home with the Kids — Authority: 123
  Oh wait, it’s that the media can only see one side of it when they write articles about mom bloggers . Amy Bellgardt of Mom Spark pointed this one out, and from what I’ve seen it certainly appears to be true. She was interviewed for an article that was supposed to be about the backlash on Twitter over an event ...
  3 days ago

• FTC Releases Resource for Parent on Kids and the Internet

  
  Consumer Advertising Law Blog — Authority: 121
  Many of us are parents and we know many of you are as well. So we decided to take just a quick departure from our normal focus on good business consumer marketing practices to let you know that the FTC has just published an excellent internet safety resource called “Net Cetera: Chatting with Kids About Being ...
  3 days ago

Comments about ftc