FTC Blogger Guidelines Challenged By Interactive Advertising Bureau

New FTC Guidelines which impose strict disclosure rules on social media are being challenged by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB).  In an open letter to FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz, IAB President and CEO Randall Rothenberg makes a persuasive argument that the guidelines unfairly and unconstitutionally impose penalties on online media.  The letter contends that the FTC guidelines single out bloggers for the same actions that “offline media has engaged for years.”

As a long-time PR pro, I have to agree that this seems at least a bit sticky for the FTC.  I understand that many blogs can seem like harmless personal opinions, whereas offline media clearly has that “institutional” feel.  It seems that the FTC wants to make sure that if a blogger has been influenced to provide an opinion, it’s clear to the reader if they’ve received SWAG, free product, drinks, dinner, etc… in short, all the common interactions between PR pros and offline journalists.

Okay… but if the FTC really thinks that offline publications are truly pillars of journalistic integrity, then explain this… One of our publicists was recently told by a trade journal that until our client bought advertising space, there would be no coverage for the company or product.  And this not from a sales rep, but from the editor.  Though more gratuitous than most, I can’t tell you this is uncommon from smaller publications fighting to stay alive.  Even the big newsstand pubs aren’t immune…seems we can’t set up a line review with a product editor without a salesman or associate publisher coming along.

Look…it’s all just good business.  And I’m here to assure you that buying ads in most publications you care about doesn’t make a bit of difference in gaining editorial.  But the point is that it does appear that the FTC is unfairly targeting online media.  We’ve not heard the last of this.

Our advice?  Keep following the guidelines.  In a statement reacting the the outrage from the blogosphere, Mary Engle, the Commission’s Associate Director for Advertising Practices, told reporters this week. “We are not planning on investigating individual bloggers. We will be focusing any enforcements on advertisers, not on individual endorsers.”

Wow. That’s a shot across the bow to all of us in the marketing world.