Thought I’d post this up as a reminder to bloggers that if you’re going to endorse products AND get paid for those endorsements, you need to clearly disclose that you’ve received compensation for that endorsement.

If you’re a marketer or affiliate and your putting claims and endorsements in your ads or pages, you need to be very careful that you completely disclose those endorsements. If you’re using testimonials, they need to be the average experience of customers. Some interpretations say that as long as you CLEARLY state that the testimonials are not the typical experience, you’re OK. But others say that isn’t even enough. You need to make testimonials the average experience.

Here’s the link to the FTC rules and regulations for paid endorsements.

Although, if you’re now shaking in your boots, here’s an article from Fast Company that gives a response from the FTC that basically says, “Don’t worry, be happy.” Apparently the $11,000 fine is not true. And the FTC seems to be consistent that first time screw-ups get a warning letter, then cease and desist, then fines…  Here’s the Fast Company Article.

So I guess, as long as you try to follow the rules and change your ways if you do get a warning letter from the FTC, then you should be OK. You want to make sure you’re treading properly so that you can make a few bucks on the front end and money with data monetization services on the back end.