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2013 FTC guideline changes affecting bloggers

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Contributor: anonymous1298304 anonymous1298304
was mentioned as an announcement on ef forum regarding reviews, however these changes also apply to affiliate marketing, sponsored posts, and even aff links in micro-blogging/social media.

anyone care to discuss, complain, interpret, etc?
03/18/2013
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Contributor: anonymous1298304 anonymous1298304
advertising through social media: as far as using aff links in social media: for real? do we have to put the word "ad" at the beginning of a tweet or other type of social media post?

***

sponsored posts: so the disclosure has to be the very first thing in the post before any links?

wow, so if so won't that be what shows as in a truncated rss feed? SUCKS!

***

affiliate links and banners: I totally don't understand this part! When I write a blog post I insert any affiliate links that pertain to the subject I"m writing about. I'm not talking about reviews or sponsored posts necessarily. for example let's say I'm writing an educational post about sex toy materials, I would link keywords to ef's guides about the topic. So are they saying that at the beginning of the post I'd have to say that the post includes affiliate links and also explain what an affiliate link is?

***

other devices: so disclosures have to be prominent on phones and other electronic devices and we are supposed to make sure that these disclosures are showing up on peoples smartphones etc. well i don't have those fancy gadgets! how do i know what the format is like on those?
03/18/2013
Contributor: Jenn (aka kissmykitty) Jenn (aka kissmykitty)
(EdenFantasys)
Quote:
Originally posted by anonymous1298304
advertising through social media: as far as using aff links in social media: for real? do we have to put the word "ad" at the beginning of a tweet or other type of social media post?

***

sponsored posts: so the disclosure ... more
Based on my experience in the paid blogging, SEO, and general internet marketing world, both from a blogger's standpoint (blogging since 1999, doing the whole paid gig since 2007), and from a company standpoint:

- Yes, tweets and other social media posts should be disclosed. I disclose mine by adding the hash tag #ad or #sponsored at the end. It's in good taste for your followers to disclose, not to mention now the FTC apparently wants the disclosure there, too.

- Sponsored posts: I've seen conflicting information on the interpretation of the FTC's guidelines on *where* the disclosure should be. It should be clearly distinguishable from the rest of the content, but does that mean it has to be at the very top of the post? I'm not sure. Personally, I am going to continue with placing my disclosures at the end of my posts, in a separate paragraph.

- So long as your social media/post content shows up on a mobile device, then any disclosure you use should show up, too.
03/18/2013
Contributor: anonymous1298304 anonymous1298304
Quote:
Originally posted by Jenn (aka kissmykitty)
Based on my experience in the paid blogging, SEO, and general internet marketing world, both from a blogger's standpoint (blogging since 1999, doing the whole paid gig since 2007), and from a company standpoint:

- Yes, tweets and other ... more
what i've read so far as tweets, they want it at the beginning of the tweet and are no longer ok with "sponsored" I've been reading that they specifically suggest "ad" at beginning of tweet.

i also read that any disclosure has to be at the beginning (like in a sponsored post), that they want the disclosure before the reader could make a decision on the product or service. i'll look up links to specifically where i read this, i'm burned out on the topic for today, i'll get at it again tomorrow and update here with links to what i read that i'm interpreting this way

i did tweet a few of the articles @KenzieAllaway (with hashtag #FTC)
03/18/2013
Contributor: K101 K101
Quote:
Originally posted by Jenn (aka kissmykitty)
Based on my experience in the paid blogging, SEO, and general internet marketing world, both from a blogger's standpoint (blogging since 1999, doing the whole paid gig since 2007), and from a company standpoint:

- Yes, tweets and other ... more
I've always disclosed my info about it being sponsored (if I do it on my blog, but I do EF reviews here), so what's new? I still don't know what these changes are because the whole FTC guidelines rule has been going on for longer than just recently. Has something else changed or am I missing something?

Wonder why it really matters where it should be. That's crazy. As long as it's located on the post, I don't know why the FTC would be so strict!
03/19/2013
Contributor: anonymous1298304 anonymous1298304
Quote:
Originally posted by K101
I've always disclosed my info about it being sponsored (if I do it on my blog, but I do EF reviews here), so what's new? I still don't know what these changes are because the whole FTC guidelines rule has been going on for longer than ... more
the changes came out this month. i had a link to the ftc announcement on the ftc website, but now i can't find it, sorry. i do still have the link to the pdf document

the changes seem to be focused on WHERE the disclosures are put and making sure they are obvious and before a consumer would make a purchasing decision.

it is frustrating because i think it's mostly about cracking down on celebrity endorsements but it's hitting us too.

the main thing i'm trying to still understand is their issue with hyperlinks.
03/19/2013
Contributor: Jenn (aka kissmykitty) Jenn (aka kissmykitty)
(EdenFantasys)
Quote:
Originally posted by anonymous1298304
the changes came out this month. i had a link to the ftc announcement on the ftc website, but now i can't find it, sorry. i do still have the link to the pdf document

the changes seem to be focused on WHERE the disclosures are put and ... more
What is the hyperlink issue?
03/20/2013
Contributor: anonymous1298304 anonymous1298304
was curious as to what others are doing, took a look around twitter and some are adding "AD" at beginning of tweet, but most seem to be just putting "ad" before the link but after the text . most seem to be putting the word AD in bold print to distinguish it. and starting tweet with "todays ad:"

"blah blah blah AD then link"
03/22/2013
Contributor: anonymous1298304 anonymous1298304
Quote:
Originally posted by Jenn (aka kissmykitty)
What is the hyperlink issue?
concern was raised in this article

they seem to have not made it very clear of course. I dont' know what she means by "marketers may need to track consumer clickthroughs"
03/22/2013