The FTC Declares War On Internet Marketing!
If haven’t heard about the latest FTC update on their Internet Laws, then you had better listen up.
If you are running an online business, then you definitely should be, if not already, paying close attention to what the FTC is doing.
Before I move on, my disclaimer:
I AM NOT A LAWYER, NONE OF THIS SHOULD BE CONSIDERED LEGAL ADVICE. IF YOU REQURE LEGAL ADVICE/ASSISTANCE, SEEK THE HELP OF A REAL LEGAL PROFESSIONAL.
Moving on…
How will this affect your business? I got the below excerpt from Mike Young’s blog. I highly recommend you not only read the whole post here, but I also recommend you subscribe and follow his blog. He is a legal professional and his is specifically about internet marketing and the laws that govern it. Check out his blog here.
1. Affiliates will be required to disclose financial compensation is involved when they promote a particular product or service in exchange for a commission. In particular, this is going to affect “review” sites, blogger “recommendations,” Facebook posts, and even Tweets that contain affiliate links. This is going to be particularly troublesome for Twitter because of the 140-character limit.
2. Anyone who receives a complimentary review copy and writes or blogs a recommendation will need to disclose the “freebie” to the reader. That means no more positive spinning buzz for a $2,000 info product as a favor to a friend who gave you a free review copy pre-launch.
3. Testimonials are going to need verification for accuracy and, if the results are atypical, there will need to be a prominent disclaimer to that effect plus a disclosure as to what are typical results. For example, if Joe Smith claims he made $10,000 the first month using your biz opp product, you better (a) verify Smith’s claim is accurate, (b) let the reader know if those results are atypical, and (c) disclose what the typical purchaser really earns.
4. If there are expert endorsements, there will likely be a requirement that the endorsement is backed by generally accepted scientific proof (not some wild theory from Dr. Ima Quack who earned her doctorate from the correspondence school New Age University of Alternative Reality Living while institutionalized as a psychiatric patient). Bogus testimonials aren’t going to cut it, particular when your offer relates to earning money or health issues.
5. In lawsuits and actions by state attorneys general, all of the above will be taken into account when making charges of fraudulent and deceptive trade practices against Internet marketers. That’s in addition to what the FTC and FDA will do at the federal level.
Again, nothing I say is legal advice. Get that from a real professional.
With that said, I don’t really see there being any problems for those that are running a legit business. I also see this as proof that my belief in having a strong email list of customers is the only real way to keep a strong business thriving.
If you are not already, you really need to work on building your lists and keeping your customer’s happy.
The government will only continue to regulate the internet even more, so it’s best for you to pay close attention to what’s going on.
Here are some more resources on this latest FTC update:
Frank Kern’s Take on the FTC update.
Tagged with: federal trade commission • ftc • Internet Law
Filed under: Internet Law
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Does this render the information in your Clickbank Domination report obsolete? Will people who bought your report still be able to make it work? Thanks!
Ricky,
This does not make any of the information in my report or others obsolete at all.
Maybe you misunderstood the information from the FTC, but they basically talking about the use of testimonials.
I recommend you read through the post and the other links I shared on the new FTC rules again to make sure you get the whole picture.
Yukinari