Regarding the New FTC Guides Governing Endorsements, Testimonials

New regulations go into affect on December 1, 2009, that affect all advertisers as well as any blogger, such as myself, who has ever accepted a product for review.

From the statement released by the FTC on October 8, 2009:

bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service.

Failure to do so may result in a fine of $11,000. See also the following documents:

• Text of the Federal Register Notice


• Text of the Revised Endorsement and Testimonial Guides

For what it's worth, I believe these guidelines are a good idea. Further, I want my readers to know up front that I have always given notice when I have reviewed a book sent to me by a publisher. In my mind, this is the right and ethical thing to do. I've always tried to be as explicit as possible about this.

In fact, in my recent review of the NET Bible, although I had personally bought the 2nd Beta edition, the First Edition, the Greek-English Diglot, and at least three electronic editions, I still wanted to point out that an employee of Bible.org (but not Bible.org itself) had personally sent me a copy of the NET Reader's Edition.

I'm probably not even the best reviewer for publishers because as I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I've got a number of items I've been very slow to get around to actually reviewing. In fact, I have so much stacked up I feel a bit guilty about it, but I'm determined to fulfill my end of the deal. These items will start to appear here soon.

I don't need guidelines from the FTC to keep me honest, but I think I'll even go a step further. From now on, I'll also make a statement about books, Bibles, software or any other products reviewed here, when I've purchased them with my own funds, just so there's no question as to whether or not I've been totally forthcoming.

I was trying to figure out the best way to do this or find the right wording, when I discovered a website for this purpose, http://cmp.ly/. This site offers six different statements that can be added to blog posts, and from what I can tell, this will suit my purposes just fine.

In there interest of full disclosure, here are a few other things you ought to know:

• While I admit getting free stuff is nice, I've usually been pretty honest about the things I didn't care for. Receiving a free item for review hasn't stopped me from being pretty hard on some publishers in the past. Regular readers here will know that. I'm also under the impression from publishers that they want me to be honest and will accept any disapproval, disagreement, or constructive criticism.


• If you see a link to a product on Amazon.com, you can assume that I've used an Amazon Associate link. But I'm not getting rich on this. Last month's cut of purchases made from my Amazon links was a whopping $13. That's a bit below average, but even that is not going to equal the cost of running two websites. And you won't ever see me placing a Paypal donation button on my site (but that's not a jab at those who do). But if I can get a little bit of love through Amazon now and then, that's enough for me.


• You see those banners to the right for Café Press, Biblical Illustrator and Accordance? Well, the Café Press link takes you to my creations on that site, but even having sold a few items, I've yet to make a dime because their monthly rates are so high. And no one is paying me to put the Biblical Illustrator or Accordance links there either. Biblical Illustrator has never paid me anything; I just like their publication. And although I have done some contract work for Oak Tree Software in the past (leading training seminars and helping out at the ETS/SBL booths), I got paid for that work only. They don't pay me to put their banner ad up and I don't make a commission if you buy from them—even if you purchase after clicking the banner. And the only reason I've ever done contract work for them is because I personally use their software and without reservation endorse their products. If I didn't, you wouldn't see the banner there. I have other Bible software on my Mac, but you don't see banners for it, do you?

So, again, I think the guidelines are a great idea, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to essentially change anything I've not already been doing all along. What about you? Are you a blogger, and if so how do you plan on implementing the new regulations on your site?

Comments

[Nick Norelli]

Since I started receiving products for review nearly two years ago I've always made it a point to (1) announce when the product arrives and who sent it, and (2) thank the sender when reviewing it. I've just found this to be common courtesy, so the FTC guidelines haven't changed anything with respect to how I conduct myself.

And for nearly two years I have had on my blog a page dedicated to listing the books I've received from publishers and friends. Since the FTC guidelines came out I've revised the introduction to the page to state: (1) that I've received all of the books/products free of charge, (2) that the books/products I've solicited have been provided with the expectation of a review in return, (3) that I feel no obligation to review unsolicited material, and (4) that receiving the product for free in no way guarantees a positive review. I think that this meets the standards of "full disclosure." Before these changes I just thanked the publishers and friends for sending the books.

[Will]

I just recently updated my "About" page in order to add a disclaimer like this. I think it's sad that this is necessary, but I understand. Thanks for the link to http://cmp.ly. That'll be handy.