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04-06-10 | Bloggers Beware (Melissa Sayer)
Source: Los Angeles Business Journal
A local attorney has a warning for new-media marketers: Beware the testimonial.
Melissa Sayer, partner at Nordman Cormany Hair & Compton in Oxnard, believes ad agencies and their clients need to protect themselves against liability under new Federal Trade Commission guidelines for endorsements and testimonials. The rules now apply to new media such as Facebook, YouTube, other Web sites and personal blogs.
The guidelines require any material connection between an endorser and advertiser be disclosed. So if an employee blogs about a company’s product, the blog must disclose the employment connection. If a company gives away products in exchange for reviews, the giveaway must be disclosed as well.
Sayer advises advertisers to establish procedures to tell endorsers and bloggers about the requirements and provide training to comply with the rules.