Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: bloggers, disclosure, FTC regulation, poll, self-police, survey
“The Concern: Consumers often go online to find reviews of products, but how do they know whether a blogger has received compensation for his or her review?” (Yao, 2009).
“The Proposal: New guidelines would clarify that the Federal Trade Commission can go after bloggers – as well as the companies that compensate them – for any false claims or failure to disclose conflicts of interest,” (Yao, 2009). This would be the first time the FTC has attempted this kind of control over bloggers and approval may take place as early as this summer.
I’m aware of blogs and reviews and how companies offer free trial products to influencers/consumers who will then write about them and tell either the company how they feel about them, or other consumers, or both. I have also seen blogs in which the disclosure is evident, in a ‘support these sponsors’ section, as well as blogs or reviews in which there is a disclaimer such as ‘no compensation has been received for this review.’ However, I am sure many bloggers provide no disclosure as they are not required to, considering these bloggers currently ‘self-police.’ One thing I was unaware of was the fact that bloggers can receive a lot of money or goods for their work. The ‘perks’ can be as little as a free product or be as expensive as “a free laptop, trips to Europe, $500 gift cards or even thousands of dollars,” (Yao, 2009).
In the offline world, this compensation is considered a standard practice in which I have personally been involved. I was part of large number of people who were invited to sample products and give feedback to the organization for both the free trial and compensation, but allowed to do so every six months. During the course of 5 years I answered surveys on diet soda, sampled Tyson sliced chicken strips (the pre-grilled stuff in the refrigerated case at the market), and was one of the first persons to use the Schick Quattro razor and give feedback on the aloe strip (which made me a brand advocate and is now the only razor I will use). I was not only able to try the Schick for 3 weeks straight, but I was also paid about $200 for my opinions. So from what I understand about the proposed regulations by the FTC, what I did in the past was fine, but I would not be able to write about it on my blog, or give my opinion unless I disclosed that I received the items for free to try, and also reported that I was compensated.
Currently, bloggers are self policing, much in the same way as search engines. I am a fan of regulating that bloggers disclose when they are compensated. This can be stated as simply as “the products discussed herein have been provided for free for this review,” or “free trial products and compensation have been provided for my opinion.” If this uniformity were made a law, then consumers would be in a better position to know who to trust, and who not to. I would rather read a review on a product that was provided for free without further compensation, than one where the reviewer was paid for their comments. I would feel it was more honest.
However, I am not a fan of the idea that previous violators be forced to pay restitution to persons who read their reviews and later purchased a product in which the blogger’s viewpoint had been tainted by compensation. This regulation has also been proposed by the FTC, (Yao, 2009). These bloggers should be ‘grandfathered in’ and a notation could be made on blogs before a certain date that compensation may or may not have been received for products reviewed before that date.
What do you think?
References:
Yao, D. (2009, June 22). “I’m Blogging about a Great Fantastic Super New Product…That, Ahem, the Company Gave Me For Free…” The Virginian-Pilot. Retrieved June 22, 2009.
