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Bloggers Face Fines Up to $11k for Not Disclosing Freebies

by Caleb Johnson on October 6, 2009 at 06:31 AM

A retooled set of guidelines released yesterday by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will force bloggers to be more transparent when reviewing products. According to Mashable, the new version of the "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising" forces writers to reveal any payments or products they may have received from advertisers when endorsing a product on a blog. If they don't keep it in line, there could be an $11,000 fine headed their way.

Until recently, the blogosphere resembled the Wild West when it came to ethics. However, earlier this summer the FTC stepped in to monitor the perks many bloggers were receiving from advertisers. This latest move by the government will make sure that readers can more easily tell the difference between an honest review and a paid endorsement.

Here at Switched, we're all about full disclosure with our readers, but those General Mills bloggers might have something to worry about. That's right. The government knows you didn't pay for that cereal and yogurt... [From: Mashable]

Tags: advertising, blogs, ethics, fine, ftc, journalism, media, money, top

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