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”

• Dell Mini 9 Accelerometer Hack Creates One Affordable Little Windows Tablet [Hacks]

  
  F-Default — Authority: 561
  The hacktastic Dell Mini 9 goes well with all sorts of aftermarket add-ons and OS’s, including this latest addition: An accelerometer tied to a touchscreen. Why not, right? Seems like a logical progression after we saw this tiny tot of a netbook hacked to serve as a stylus-driven tablet More here: Dell Mini 9 ...
  14 hours ago

• Amazon Makes It Easy For Affiliates To Tweet Offers… and Break The Law?

  
  Kikabink News - Internet Marketing News — Authority: 479
  Last week Amazon introduced a ‘no brainer’ initiative for affiliates in the Amazon Associates program – a one-click way to send a promotional offer on Twitter.As explained in the... (Click on the title for the full story...)
  14 hours ago

• Will All Affiliates Be Affected by New FTC’s Rules?

  
  Affiliate Marketing Blog — Authority: 426
  An excellent question was posed by Eric Alexander earlier this morning: Does it [the passing of the new Federal Trade Commissions disclosure rules for "endorsements and testimonials" ] only affect product or service endorsements or even all affiliate links, banners, etc that a website may publish? I’ve ...
  1 day ago

• FTC, Affiliates and Endorsement Guidelines

  
  Marketing to Make Money Online — Authority: 112
  Let me first say I am not being paid by the FTC to write this article. Now for the fun stuff. The FTC has updated their guidelines and of particular interest are the Endorsement Guidelines. ... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
  2 days ago

• Hype vs. Reality

  
  The Copyright Alliance Blog — Authority: 416
  A key part of the copyright debate is that copyright somehow inhibits innovation. Yet if you look around, innovation has been occurring and continues to occur at a dizzying pace. Hype quickly follows that innovation, and assumptions surround each new innovation. We hear lots of references to Schumpeter, as if the ...
  2 days ago

• New FTC Rules for affiliate marketers apply Dec1 2009

  
  Stompernet SEO Course — Authority: 163
  Important News for online affiliate marketers about FTC - Federal Trade Commission Rules apply on Dec 1 2009, attend this online free webinar by New York Times best selling Author Joel Comm to help you understand the new FTC rules
  2 days ago

• Links A La Mode

  
  Sweet Fuzz — Authority: 122
  As more and more print magazines fold, bloggers seem to be growing in professionalism and media legitimacy. When bloggers such as Previously Owned and kaKofonie Of si(gh)lenS can get the scoop on international designers, you know the fashion playing field is being leveled. If bloggers can host great giveaways like ...
  3 days ago

• Advice for Advertisers with Affiliates on Twitter

  
  Affiliate Marketing Blog — Authority: 426
  On October 27, 2009 LinkShare launched a Twitter tool for affiliates to use. Almost simultaneously with the LinkShare’s announcement, Amazitter (an iPhone app for tweeting Amazon affiliate links) came out. The wave continued, and yesterday Amazon has changed its policy from no affiliate links on Twitter to ...
  3 days ago

• Blogging with Cents: Bloggers, What Does Your Disclosure Say?

  
  A Cowboy's Wife — Authority: 460
  With the FTC “laying down the law” on us bloggers, it’s time to clean up and refine your disclosure policy. While it’s perfectly okay to have a generic statement as your disclosure, I highly recommend your personalize it in your usual writing tone. I also recommend you mark your posts clearly as benefited ...
  3 days ago

• Ethical Blogging & Free Badges

  
  Desperately Seeking WordPress — Authority: 121
  So, we have a new law of the land – in the USA. The Federal Trade Commission would like everyone who is reviewing a product, whether given the product to try or paid to try the product or service, to disclose this fact. A few interesting tidbits – this disclosure policy must be linked to on every page that ...
  4 days ago

• Amazon’s Twitter Sharing Utility is Smart Business, but Is It Legal? [FTC Violations]

  
  The SiliconANGLE — Authority: 143
  I noticed late last night a post from MG Siegler regarding the new social initiative from Amazon, in which they’re adding the ability for surfers and users of the website to tweet out a product recommendation from the site, and make use of their affiliate code in the process. I was impressed that Amazon finally ...
  4 days ago

• Article Title Unknown

  
  Trade Regulation Talk — Authority: 124
  New York State Charges Intel with Monopolization This posting was written by Jeffrey May, Editor of CCH Trade Regulation Reporter. Intel Corporation unlawfully maintained its monopoly in the market for x86 central processing unit (CPUs) in violation of New York’s Donnelly Act and Sec. 2 of the Sherman Act, the ...
  4 days ago

• New York attorney general files antitrust lawsuit against Intel

  
  Engadget — Authority: 880
  No matter how it tries, Intel just cant shake those pesky antitrust monkeys off its back: the attorney general of New York today filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against the chipmaker, saying it unfairly prevented AMD from competing under state and federal law. Thats pretty much what the EU just fined Intel $1.45b ...
  4 days ago

• Where my last 20 reviewed books came from (3)

  
  Presenting Lenore — Authority: 515
  Yep - that time again (and now especially relevant considering the recent FTC guidelines). Another 20 books have been reviewed, and this is where I got them: No Time For Goodbye by Linwood Barclay - bought at a discount at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2008 Sometimes Were Always Real Same Same by Mattox Roesch - ...
  4 days ago

• FTC’s Video Response to Questions on Endorsement Guides

  
  Affiliate Marketing Blog — Authority: 426
  I have just found out that the Federal Trade Commission has published video responses to the following 6 questions: What’s new about the Endorsement Guides? Why did the FTC update the Endorsement Guides? What do the Endorsement Guides mean for bloggers? How do bloggers follow the Endorsement Guides? Is the ...
  5 days ago

• Government cracks down on credit report services

  
  The Frugalista Files — Authority: 122
  The government is cracking down on freecreditreport.com, saying the service isnt often free, but a lure for customers to enroll in its monitoring service for $14. 95 per month. To get government authorized, truly free credit reports, got to annualcreditreport.com .  The video below is a pretty good spoof of the ...
  5 days ago

• 3FN + FTC = Some Less Spam From Some ASNs

  
  Perilocity — Authority: 103
  A research project Im assisting at the University of Texas at Austin notes that: On Tuesday 2 June 2009, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) took legal steps that shut down the web hosting provider Triple Fiber network (3FN.net). Looking at Autonomous Systems (ASNs) listed in the spam blocklist CBL, ... ...
  5 days ago

• But the singer’s just not as cute as that French-Canadian...

  
  I'll tumble 4 ya. — Authority: 436
  But the singer’s just not as cute as that French-Canadian lip-syncer. via FTC . See also: A Free Credit Score Followed by a Monthly Bill | NYTimes
  5 days ago

• Credit Monitoring Rip-Offs More Proof of the Need for Financial Literacy

  
  The Washington Independent Blog — Authority: 154
  Just as we wrote about the pressing need for financial literacy among consumers as credit tightens, The New York Times reports on the government’s efforts to combat those “free” credit report firms, which charge people for a service they are entitled to get for free. On television it’s hard to miss the ...
  5 days ago

• Target Rich Environment

  
  The Business of Creativity — Authority: 113
  My friend Joel Rothman posted the following discussion relating to the FTC’s attitude toward the new rules regarding deceptive advertising in the context of endorsements and testimonials.  This is seriously important stuff for everyone that uses testimonials in their marketing – which is everyone.  So, PAY ...
  5 days ago

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