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IAB Questions the Constitutionality of FTC Regulations on Blogging

By Raju Shanbhag, TMCnet Contributor

Bloggers that take freebies to write reviews about the products may have to disclose it, according to a new proposed regulation from FTC. While some customers may be pleased with this, it hasn’t exactly satisfied the Interactive Advertising Bureau, or IAB.

 

The Federal Trade Commission has also warned advertisers featuring testimonials that claim dramatic results cannot hide behind disclaimers that the results aren't typical. According to FTC (News - Alert), the commissioners voted 4-0 to approve the final guidelines.

 

According to IAB, the rules unfairly and unconstitutionally impose penalties on online media for practices in which offline media have engaged for decades. AIB said that the rules regarding the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising do not apply to the offline media and this tilts the domain unfavorably towards that offline media.

 

The guide include revisions that specifically address online media and will require that bloggers who receive free products to review must disclose that they received those products for free. Failing to do this will make the bloggers subject to civil enforcement penalties.

 

 “What concerns us the most in these revisions is that the Internet, the cheapest, most widely accessible communications medium ever invented, would have less freedom than other media,” Randall Rothenberg, president and CEO of the IAB, said. “These revisions are punitive to the online world and unfairly distinguish between the same speech, based on the medium in which it is delivered.”

 

Generally, reviews published in traditional media are not considered by the commission. But a blogger’s statement on his or her personal blog, or elsewhere such as an online retailer’s site, could qualify as an “endorsement.”

 

Recently, IAB partnered with Insites Consulting to publish their “Marketers and Consumers, Digital & Connected,” or “MC DC,” report that suggests that marketing professionals will need to adapt their communication to suit the garb of modern day Internet and other digital media if it has to be relevant for the modern day consumer. 

Raju Shanbhag is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Raju’s articles, please visit his columnist page.

Edited by Amy Tierney