Last week I wrote an article called How to use affiliates effectively for review bloggers.  At least one person indicated they had been concerned over the FTC’s revised guidelines and how it affects their use of affiliate links in review posts, so I thought I’d do some research.

Let me start off by saying that I am not an attorney, nor am I a foreign language interpreter so sorting through some of the jargon wasn’t easy, but I am a reasonably intelligent person so I did walk away with a basic understanding.

All of the hullabaloo recently surrounding bloggers by the FTC really comes down to disclosure.  The FTC exists to protect consumers and unfortunately for the rest of us, there are bloggers out there flat out lying about their actual use and experience with the products they review.  This misleads consumers and borders on false advertising, and as annoying as it seems, the recent attention to this issue actually is a good thing.

The FTC guidelines are not new.  They have been in place for many years to help protect consumers against deceptive advertising, they have merely updated them to consider all the new forms of advertising that the web has enabled.

Personally, I have always disclosed when I receive a product from a company specifically for review.  I also show photographs of my family  using the product so it is clear we actually did experience and use the product as opposed to simply looking at the package and website and making up something so we could later sell the product NIB (new in box) on eBay.  The FTC is not cracking down because of bloggers who play fair, they are cracking down because of the ones that don’t.  People make purchasing decisions based upon reviews they read on the internet and the average consumer doesn’t always understand that bloggers don’t necessarily go out and BUY the products themselves.  And while receiving a “free” product doesn’t automatically imply a biased review, disclosure helps make consumers a little more informed and pay more attention to what they are reading.

Let’s say there are two different reviews for the “Handy Dandy Kitchen Gadget” on two different blogs.  One review is glowing and found nothing wrong with the product, while the other liked the product in general but claim it doesn’t work well for left-handed people.  Who do you believe?  Imagine now that both reviews had full disclosure of a relationship with the advertiser, but no pictures of the reviewer actually using it.  Who do you believe?

In this situation, there has to be some accountability on the part of the consumer to look for additional reviews, especially if they are left-handed, but what if there are no other reviews that mention this aspect of using the product?  What then?  It is not fair to either the consumer or the advertiser.  Oh, and in this example, the second reviewer who said that it didn’t work well for left-handed people made it up.  They didn’t even open the box, but wanted to add a slightly negative aspect to the review to give them credibility.

Seriously, BLOGGERS DO THIS.

And while those of us who are entrenched in a social media centered world can usually recognize what is phoney from what is not, the average web user often does not.  The disclosure statement helps consumers make better imformed decisions on whose “opinion” to trust.  Let’s change the example above and have the first reviewer, the one who gave the product a glowing review, disclose that she bought the product herself and in no way has a relationship with the advertiser.   In a situation where the second reviewer made false claims, knowing this helps the consumer.

Again, as a review blogger myself, I believe that a relationship with an advertiser doesn’t automatically create a biased review, but when you look at the big picture, it absolutely helps give the consumer some ammunition to help make informed decisions in an area where we know people can be dishonest.  This is why it is so important for review bloggers to list the good with the bad, and include personal pictures when writing a review.  It benefits everyone in the long run.

So what about affiliate links in review posts?

The short answer is that I don’t know for sure.  The long answer is that they have not addressed affiliate links specifically, but generally refer to requiring disclosure of  material relationships with advertisers.

I believe that even the most naive consumer realizes that product placements on websites are often sponsored, especially when they appear as sidebar ads or links.  And so long as they are not being misled they are not bothered that someone, especially a blogger they trust and enjoy reading, is making some money off their pageviews or clicks.  But in the context of an endorsement, they want and often need disclosure so they can make an educated, informed decision.

This is the example the FTC gives when referring to bloggers and their requirements for disclosure:

A college student who has earned a reputation as a video game expert maintains a personal weblog or “blog” where he posts entries about his gaming experiences. Readers of his blog frequently seek his opinions about video game hardware and software. As it has done in the past, the manufacturer of a newly released video game system sends the student a free copy of the system and asks him to write about it on his blog. He tests the new gaming system and writes a favorable review. Because his review is disseminated via a form of consumer-generated media in which his relationship to the advertiser is not inherently obvious, readers are unlikely to know that he has received the video game system free of charge in exchange for his review of the product, and given the value of the video game system, this fact likely would materially affect the credibility they attach to his endorsement. Accordingly, the blogger should clearly and conspicuously disclose that he received the gaming system free of charge. The manufacturer should advise him at the time it provides the gaming system that this connection should be disclosed, and it should have procedures in place to try to monitor his postings for compliance.

This was taken from the FTC’s Revised Endorsement and Testimonial Guides.  The FTC also has a section on their site with links to some videos where they answer frequently asked questions about how the revised guidelines affect bloggers: About the endorsement guides.

The video below adds a level of confusion to the issue in my mind, because she mentions being paid or receiving a “steady stream of products” from an advertiser, but not a blogger who receives a single review product from a company and doesn’t have a “relationship” per-se having been sent a single product sample to test.

But this video goes on to imply that by sending you a product, regardless, that you have a relationship with the advertiser and simply need to provide disclosure that you received the product “free” from the advertiser.

I think it is pretty clear that when you review a product, you need to disclose how you obtained it.  And in general it would seem that your statement of disclosure would cover your entire post, meaning affiliate links as well.  It helps your credibility in the long run, and it really is a simple thing to incorporate.

How do you incorporate disclosure and transparency?

It sounds to me that site-wide disclosure is NOT ENOUGH.  You need to address it in each relevant post.  You do this a number of ways.

Statement directly at the end of the post:

Example “disclaimer” to put at the end of your post could be:

I was provided with the product written about in this article for testing and review purposes.  The opinions expressed are my own.

If you want to disclose your affiliate links fully, you could add “links provided are affiliate links” but again, the FTC has not appeared to adequately address this issue so I’m not sure this is necessary.

A link to your site-wide disclosure policy at the end of the post:

You could simply say, this post requires disclosure/transparency and link to a more detailed page on which describe all the methods that you might use on your site to earn “compensation”.

Graphics that link to a different page at the end of the post:

You could have a series of graphics that denote certain things, and they link to a page with a legend that describes what each graphic means.

However you choose to do it, it does not appear that the FTC wants to stop you from doing product reviews and earning money from affiliate links, they just want to ensure that your readers understand that endorsement of a product on a blog may be biased and skewed.  You and I are aware enough to realize that anyone talking about a product may have some sort of relationship with the company but not everyone is, and again, while this relationship does not guarantee bias, nor does lack of a relationship guarantee complete truth either.

And as much as I hate to say it, you might consider disclosing non-paid posts as well, especially when they discuss a product or service that might cause your readers to form an opinion based upon the information.  In the light of all this, writing a rave review of a restuarant and adding a note to the end of the post saying that you were not compensated in any way for your review will carry a lot of weight with the person reading it.  Let’s face it, being provided with a product to test has the perception of inherent bias, even if the reviewer is professional and presents both the pros and cons of the product or service.  All you can do is do your best to be honest and make your readers aware of exactly where you are coming from.

~Kim