and guidelines (at www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/native-advertising-guide-businesses) require bloggers to disclose whether they’ve received any type of payment or free products in exchange for a positive review. For more information, see https://amylynnandrews.com/how-to-disclose-affiliate-links.
The rule doesn’t appear to apply to individuals who post a review on public review sites (such as TripAdvisor or Yelp), but it applies if you review other companies’ products on your blog or send products to other bloggers to request a review.
You can find out more about this requirement from the disclosure resources listed in Table 4-4. Some bloggers, offended by the rules, have found humorous or sarcastic ways to comply. Others, such as The Review Stew (www.thereviewstew.com/p/disclosures.html), whose blog appears in Figure 4-7, are simply matter-of-fact about it.
TABLE 4-4 Legal Resource Sites
| Name | URL | Description |
|---|---|---|
| American Bar Association |
www.americanbar.org/groups/intellectual_property_law/resources.html
|
Intellectual property resource lists |
| DisclosurePolicy |
http://disclosurepolicy.org
|
Generate free disclosure policies |
| Electronic Frontier Foundation |
www.eff.org
|
Not-for-profit focused on free speech, privacy, and consumer rights |
| Federal Trade Commission |
www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/attachments/press-releases/ftc-staff-revises-online-advertising-disclosure-guidelines/130312dotcomdisclosures.pdf
|
Federal guidelines for digital media disclosure |
| FindLaw |
http://smallbusiness.findlaw.com/intellectual-property.html
|
Intellectual property resources |
| International Technology Law Association |
www.itechlaw.org/ask-itech
|
Online legal issues |
| PublicLegal from the Internet Legal Research Group |
www.ilrg.com
|
Index of legal sites, free forms, and documents |
| Nolo |
www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/ecommerce-website-development
|
Online legal issues |
| Social Media Examiner |
www.socialmediaexaminer.com/ftc-2013-disclosures
|
Article titled “What Marketers Need to Know about the New FTC Disclosures” |
| U.S. Copyright Office |
www.copyright.gov
|
Copyright information and submission |
| U.S. Patent and Trademark Office |
www.uspto.gov
|
Patent and trademark information, databases, and submission |
www.firmplay.com/social-media-policy/examples.
Courtesy of www.thereviewstew.com
FIGURE 4-7: This blogger sets out a clear acknowledgment policy on product endorsement.
Protecting Your Brand Reputation
It’s important to start protecting your brand now by registering your company name for social media accounts. To avoid brandjacking (others using your company or product brand name on social media for their own purposes or to write misleading or negative things about your company), try to choose the most popular, available handle that will work across multiple sites. Use your company or product name and keep it short.
A number of companies now offer tools that claim to assess the quality of what people are saying about your company, products, or staff. In addition to counting how many times your name appears, they try to assess the sentiment of postings — whether statements are negative or positive.
