The FTC Wants YOU...to get a Disclosure Policy!

The FTC followed up their recently revised Guides with a nice set of videos by Mary Engle explaining the changes. As we've discussed as a blogging best practice here, creating a Disclosure Policy and linking it in a clear and conspicuous manner sitewide (e.g. similar to Privacy Policy) helps your readers understand the practices and conflicts of your site. If all the blogosphere discussions haven't already prompted you to adopt a Disclosure Policy of your own, maybe these videos will push you over the edge:

1. What's new about the Endorsement Guides?


2. Why did the FTC update the Endorsement Guides?


3. What do the Endorsement Guides mean for bloggers?


4. How do bloggers follow the Endorsement Guides?


5. Is the FTC planning to sue bloggers?


6. Where to go for more information.

Disclosure on Old Posts? DPs to the Rescue

There's been quite a lot of discussion about the FTC's proposed new guides regarding testimonials and endorsements. Setting aside the question of whether new media (blog endorsements = disclosure) is being held to a higher standard than old media (radio endorsements = no disclosure), the message is pretty clear: if there is compensation to a site/blogger, there must be disclosure. One of the FTC's examples provides a pretty typical sponsored blogging scenario:

“Example 7: 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. The readers of his blog are unlikely to expect 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 would likely 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.”

Whereas hard-money compensation has been disclosed for some time, soft-money compensation (like that free video game system) is often shrouded in claims of "it's not really compensation or disclosure-worthy because he couldn't review the video game without having a copy to play." The FTC's new examples make it pretty clear that such hard-money vs. soft-money distinctions are not only invalid, but could create legal liability for bloggers and marketers.

Some bloggers and marketers are coming around to realize the error in such distinctions, but this post is more about what actions to take after that debate is settled. One obvious action is to disclose all conflicts so readers have context for your new content. But, what about your old content?

Does the FTC's position require bloggers and marketers to examine their entire history of online blogging for conflicts and include a post-by-post disclosure statement for each conflict? Every day a post exists online and a blogger could delete or edit it (e.g. it's not a printed magazine out of the blogger's control), is also a day a new reader can stumble across it and be influenced by its contents. To be honest, I'm not sure that's feasible, and doubt the FTC has thought through this reality or how it should be solved.

Until such clarity is provided, however, a Disclosure Policy can help for new and old content alike. A Disclosure Policy can state exactly how and where hard-money or soft-money will be disclosed for content on that site, so readers always no what to expect on future posts. Marketers who engage bloggers can also require/review the DPs of the blogs they engage, securing records to substantiate their commitment to transparency. More importantly, a well-structured DP can also handle policy changes over time.

For example, a marketing blogger who decides to start disclosing soft-money compensation (free books) on future posts, still needs to let readers know the context for past posts -- new readers see those old posts every day, right? A Disclosure Policy could state that all posts prior to June 11, 2009 may have been influenced by free gifts without in-post disclosure, but all posts on or after June 11, 2009 will contain in-post disclosure if free gifts were received. Then, if that Disclosure Policy is clearly and conspicuously linked from every page of the site, readers always have a place to understand the influence behind a given post on a given date.

What do you think? Do you think the FTC will let past conflicted posts without a sitewide Disclosure Policy or in-post disclosure slide? DPs are so easy to make, is it worth the risk?

WOMMA Ethics Code Review

For those of you willing to lend your voice, perspective and insights to WOMMA's Ethics Code, you should know that a review of that Code is currently underway.  Given the speed with which social media is changing the media and marketing landscape, we want to make sure the WOMMA Code remains dynamic and valuable for all word-of-mouth constituents.  WOMMA VP Paul Rand is doing a great job of moderating the discussion.

I've already provided a comment (also copied below this post) and encouraged WOMMA to promote the power of a Disclosure Policy framework in the Code to maximize transparency across a wide range of sites and practices.  Just as Privacy Policies were a self-regulating industry collaboration to educate visitors about a site's personal data collection and privacy practices, Disclosure Policies are a natural industry collaboration to educate visitors about a site's conflicts and disclosure practices.  I can't think of any good reasons why Disclosure Policies linked from every page of a site, at a minimum, wouldn't be a great move for the industry and consumers.

If you agree...or disagree...head on over to WOMMA and join the discussion.

The WOMMA Summit live session on this topic is included below.  Although the participants are pretty comfortable with sponsored blogging, transparency and disclosure is the key.

My comment is currently in moderation and included below -- any thoughts?

"I’ll start with the observation that the closest analogy to bloggers is radio hosts — particularly talk radio hosts. As blogs often include podcasts, this analogy becomes even more obvious. Radio hosts, even of the smallest, niche programs with less than 100 listeners regularly review and promote products and services for their audience, and are compensated for doing so. Given the maturity of the radio industry, I believe WOMMA could benefit from studying marketing requirements for that medium. I’d guess some of WOMMA’s member companies include radio marketing experts and should be included in ethics code discussions — especially since their WOM efforts via online, offline and radio are subject to the WOMMA code.

I watched the live ethics session (thanks for recording), prompting the following thoughts/comments:
1) Although this question was presented to the audience multiple times, in multiple ways, most audience speakers appeared comfortable with the marketing approach so long as Honesty ROI is followed.
2) If something would be OK for a paid employee to do, it’s not clear why a contractor (e.g. blogger) would not be allowed to do it — assuming Honesty ROI is followed by employee or contractor.
3) It’s not clear where the cash versus product distinction came from in this question and why it makes a difference. If a product is given to a blogger, economic value is clearly given — the value of the product. If a product is given as a loaner, economic value is still given — the value of renting such a product for the loaner period.
4) The core question comes back to Honesty ROI and disclosure applies to free products, free services, cash, gift cards, free passes, contests and even AFFILIATE COMPENSATION. If any WOMMA code tweaks happen around this topic, it could be making it clear that all of these practices involve an element of compensation and, thus, all should include disclosure consistent with the Honesty ROI.
5) Although type of disclosure may differ with different types of compensation and publications (e.g. many local magazines are 100% sponsored without stating such on every page), zero disclosure isn’t an option under Honesty ROI. As a minimum, a Disclosure Policy linked ubiquitously sitewide could provide visitors a standard place to look for the practices of the site they visit — very similar to how Privacy Policy links provide visitors a standard place to look for the privacy practices of the site they visit. In fact, a Disclosure Policy linked sitewide could be a good baseline requirement for any blogger engaged by a WOMMA member. If the sitewide Privacy Policy framework is good enough to protect our credit cards, SSN and identity, an industry-backed Disclosure Policy framework could be valuable for protecting readers/viewers of WOM efforts — and promote self-regulation.

Thanks for the moderation work Paul. This is a topic I’ve spent considerable time researching and I’d welcome discussing any of these ideas — my email was provided with this comment."

Federated Media Agrees, Transparency Starts with Disclosure Policy

Federated Media, one of the display ad networks for blogs, has announced plans to sell the "conversation" as an ad, and business partner Michael Arrington of TechCrunch says sponsored social media is here to stay. Announcements like this and others demonstrate that sponsored content continues to grow, and it's nice to see the transparency value behind disclosure policies come into focus for all participants.

TechCrunch: "Federated Media says a proper disclosure policy is the right place to start."

Kudos FM.

If you blog, create your Disclosure Policy today, customize it for your site, and link to it from every page of your site. If you sponsor bloggers or "conversations", require that the sites you create or engage carry a Disclosure Policy linked from every page of their site.

Disclosure: IZEA, creator of DisclosurePolicy.org, pioneered social media conversational marketing and the benefits of a robust disclosure policy framework.

BlogCouncil Suggestion: Blogwide Link to Disclosure Policy

I provided a suggestion for the BlogCouncil open-source disclosure guidelines: link DPs from corp/agency/blogger sites. Somehow that was missing from the guidelines, but is a natural addition.

It looks like Andy doesn't realize our interests are aligned on this topic, but they are. Hopefully, my follow-up comment helps make that more clear:

"Andy: My comment is about DisclosurePolicy.org and DPs in general. I disclosed in-comment my affiliation with DisclosurePolicy.org and sig-linked to DisclosurePolicy.org. DP.org clearly states its affiliation with PPP, the company that originated the concept of Disclosure Policies almost 2 years ago.

I shared with you then the value of Disclosure Policies and I'm excited by BlogCouncil's draft guidelines. You said this is an open-source effort so I'm sharing experience from being in the trenches on this topic. Unless you encourage corporations and bloggers to communicate their Disclosure Policies sitewide with a "Disclosure Policy" link, the content of the policies can shift without readers realizing it. It's important for a reader to know what to expect from the site they visit and linking a DP does that. That's all my comment above was trying to contribute: 1) corp/agency, link your own Disclosure Policy and 2) encourage bloggers you engage to do the same.

Linking your DP sitewide is something I see BlogCouncil has adopted and I commend you. The guidelines will go further to maximize transparency if you incorporate this suggestion for others to follow that lead."

UPDATE 07-29: I'm not sure what happened, but it looks like my suggestion above left BlogCouncil moderation, but never published in their open-source "call for comments" section. Maybe Trackback is the better vehicle...I'll give it a try.

BlogCouncil Throws Their Support Behind Disclosure Policies

It looks like Andy Sernovitz may have buried the hatchet regarding Disclosure Policies. BlogCouncil, the organization run by Andy and his GasPedal company, has published their own Disclosure Policy online and provided guidelines for corporate Disclosure Policies. Great work Andy!

Check them out and comment if you have suggestions -- they welcome improvements on these draft guidelines. I've offered to help their efforts however possible.

The momentum grows...just as Privacy Policies are a cornerstone to protecting consumer data, Disclosure Policies offer a safer, more transparent online world for all of us going forward...

Calacanis Starts to See the Bigger Picture Behind Disclosure Policies

Jason Calacanis posted about affiliate links and the need for disclosure. That's just one of the many uses for Disclosure Policies.

Allen Stern carried Jason's thinking further to include employees who link to their company websites. Again, a perfect use for Disclosure Policies.

The key is aligning author and reader expectations when they visit a property. The more people think about disclosure of conflicts of interest, the more they realize a broad, flexible framework like Disclosure Policies is the way to go. The same evolution of thought happened with Privacy Policies. Hopefully, this evolution will proceed quicker -- before the government tries to regulate.

If you are an affiliate or employee who links to their company, get yourself a Disclosure Policy before it's too late...

The Disclosure Debates, Blow-by-Blow: ShoeMoney, SEOmoz (and Andy)

ShoeMoney (Jeremy Schoemaker) and SEOmoz (Rand Fishkin) kicked off a great debate on Disclosure the last couple weeks, largely focused on affiliate links, but with implications for any blogger who covers a topic or provides a link for cash or non-cash benefit.

ShoeMoney kicked if off with Full Disclosure - Assume The Position.

Which prompted SEOmoz to respond with The Vast Ocean Between Shoemoney & SEOmoz and Why You Should Be Able To Trust Blog Links.

Prompting a showdown here SEOmoz vs. ShoeMoney.

An audio debate here Debating Blogging Disclosure With Rand Fishkin On Net Income.

And a (w)rap up here Blogging Disclosure Rap Up where there was a guest appearance by Andy (Beard, not Sernovitz) providing his take on the debate/debacle with Blogging Full Disclosure Debacle - Grow Some Brass Ones.

This series of posts is definitely worth a read for every blogger.

For some background on the variety of reasons bloggers write/link, Andy's post Top 32 Forms of Linking Payola is an eye-opener on the spectrum of incentives bloggers face/embrace every day.