This post is unavoidable right now. The FTC has come down with its decision to fine bloggers who don’t fully disclose their review products or payments. And now the press is buzzing about this ruling and turning to bloggers for our opinions. In fact, I talked to the Tampa Tribune yesterday and just finished emailing Bay News 9 a requested response. So, after all these emails and chatter, I think it’s time I make my opinion official here at home, on Morningside Mom.
First of all, some of you all may not be familiar with what the FTC is up to. Here is the story. But in a nutshell, they want to fine bloggers $11,000 if they do not fully disclose the products or payments received while writing a review.
Here’s what I have to say about it.
An ethical blogger should always disclose what they receive. It is in the best interest of their blog and they owe it to their readers. If you all, my trusty wonderful readers, think I am trying to scam you – I’d bet you might stop reading here. And I wouldn’t blame you. Full disclosure and transparency is key to a successful blog which does reviews. So in that sense, I agree with the FTC.
However, loyal readers, you should know that most bloggers – no matter how much free stuff they get, or how much they are paid – are never making anything equitable to the amount of work we put into our blogs. In fact, my net income is waaaaaay in the red. Let me make myself clear. We bloggers? We make diddly squat. Posts on sites that pay might get you enough to fill up a tank of gas. Even the bloggers who are in this to review products and get “free stuff” still, with all the work they do, are never compensated enough for the support they give the companies they review for.
Large corporations and companies looooove them some bloggers. They love how “real” we are and how much we connect to consumers with our honest, very grassroots, buzz worthy way. We bloggers weren’t born yesterday. We know that companies who get some good support from a few blogs might gain more attention and potential revenue than they would from some big ad campaign. If we post, and our hundreds of readers read and nod their heads about what we wrote, they win. And we get a free thingy-ma-bob.
There are no expectations or standards for how bloggers must be compensated. None. Some of us are fine with the free stuff and that’s cool. Some expect big bucks and payment by the hour – like copy-writers and journalists might be paid. (Note I don’t call them real writers because bloggers are real writers. Big time journalists write from home in their bathrobes too, you know. And for the record, I am writing at a desk, fully dressed.) Back to my point. Some bloggers want to be compensated for their work hourly and they struuugle to have that happen. Struggle I tell you. Some bloggers make some money in advertisement (maybe enough to buy a whole cup of coffee). No matter how bloggers are compensated right now, none of their compensation is enough. NONE of it equals the hours they pour over their blogs, writing about this or that, supporting what they do.
So why do we keep doing it? Because (A) we LOVE to write and (B) we usually only review products from companies we fully support and might support even without the free thingy-ma-bob.
Still. We are doing this from scratch. No one has our back. No one is making sure we’re not being taken advantage of.
But the FTC is making sure that readers and companies aren’t being taken advantage of by us bloggers. If we don’t stay on the straight and narrow, we might have to pay $11,000. Think about it. If I write a review where I might get a free pair of shoes worth $50 but I don’t tell you all I got them for free, the FTC has the right to come down on me with a fine of $11,000? When I make DIDDLY-SQUAT???
Dude.
Who is threatened here? The big corporations. Because we have power as WRITERS to give a thumbs up or thumbs down to some product.
Who is being protected here? The readers, yes. Because they have every right for fair and honest information. But the big corporations are too.
And still. No one has our back. We are writing in the wild, wild west my friends. Which is kind of cool, in a libertarian kind of way. Keep your rules off my blog. This is my land, I’m riding off into the wild frontier, staking my claim in the blogosphere, don’t tell me how to write. Except, now the FTC kind of is.
Ethical blogging is cool. And extremely important. If we want to be considered “legitimate” writers, we need to write better than those paid folks are (who, by the way, aren’t expected to disclose their salaries for that they write are they? Am I wrong? Someone correct me on that…). We need to step up and show the value of honest, from the heart writing. That is what makes a blog so unique. That is why our posts are better than any old ad campaign – because we will tell you how it REALLY is. And we won’t back something we as writers don’t feel comfortable with. I promise.
But do we need the FTC looking over our shoulders and threatening incomprehensible sums of money from a stay at home mom who didn’t say she got those shoes for free by the way?
Nope. I don’t think so.
If the FTC wants to PAY me $11,000 for having an ethical, well-written, honest and transparent blog – or if anyone wants to pay me for what I am worth for once – well, then count me in.
Until then, good luck to all of us in this new blogging frontier. Yee-haw.
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14 comments ↓
My friend Trevor pointed me toward this piece:
techcrunch.com/2009/10/05/ftc-values-sponsored-conversations-at-11000-apiece
There’s another good article linked in the comments. From what I’ve been able to piece together, it looks like the FTC would drop the hammer on advertisers/companies before bloggers. I hope this is the case. Big corporations and media groups should be more aware of and on top of disclosure issues than small time bloggers. MOST companies I’ve worked with are very up front about asking for full disclosure and honesty, but I’ve also encountered smaller agencies who all but demand positive reviews.
I’ve seen conflicting accounts on the fine and when it would be applicable. Hopefully this is also a case where the advertisers would be hit, not the bloggers. Not to say that this absolves the bloggers of any responsibility!
One thing we have to keep in mind is that this ruling applies to a much larger blogging community than our “mom blogosphere.” Tech review blogs in particular are more often flooded with some pretty expensive gadgets and gear.
My biggest concern at this time is that the guidelines might evolve into some sort of mandatory standard disclaimer. I’d hate to be told HOW and WHERE to disclose. I feel like my readers are smart enough and I am smart enough to work with a nice simple disclosure statement that’s appropriately woven into the frame of a blog post.
Maria, I’m not sure why your comment isn’t showing when you made such important posts. I’m going to try and fix it, it needs to be up here!!!!
Oh good, there it is! THANK YOU, your comments are amazing. And all – go check her post out too.
Well said!
My friends who don’t blog are under the impression I am saving for my son’s college with the money I make , in reality I make nada ! I don’t mind regulations but don’t think the majority of bloggers needed the FTC to threaten anything to be honest with their readers.
Wow. Girl, you have a fire in your belly and I like it. I couldn’t of said it any better, and I certainly won’t try. Thank you!!!!
The FTC has denied that it will fine bloggers $11,000 for violating the Guides. That at least, is what they told CNN.
And the revisions leave a lot of room for the FTC to NOT fine someone who receives a pair of shoes and does a review. The point, the FTC revealed in the CNN interview, was to be able to go after bloggers who were repeatedly reported as violating the Guides. Because there is no way the FTC can monitor all the blogs. It’s a whistle-blower change that presumably empowers the public against bloggers who behave unethically.
My disappointment with the change is that it leaves untouched Product Placement advertising. So although if you have a long history of accepting products or payments from Coke to write positive reviews of Coke products you are subject to the Guides and need to disclose your material connection with Coke, if Coke just pays for product placement on your blog (absent anything looking like an objective evaluation) then that is just fine. So look for blog relationships to change even more as bloggers accept cash for product placements in their content, since the FTC has unequivocably said that they are not interested in changing the regulations surrounding product placement.
I’m not sure that product placement makes sense from a blogging perspective. Are readers going to stand for that or slowly slip away? It seems like bloggers who respect their craft and their pieces of the Internet will shy from a product placement. I’ll put my money on that not happening often, or only happening on the blogs that already suck anyway.
Agreed on the product placement. I can’t imagine that being a norm with blogs. If it is, I may need to pack it up and find another medium. Granted product placement has become the norm in about every version of media so whose to say it will stop at blogs. *groan*
It sounds like this is all really aimed at the blogs taking advantage already. And that’s fine. But it seems like an awful lot of gray area is left over for us to untangle and sort through as we determine how it will realistically affect each of us. The FTC shouldn’t lay down one generalized law for all blogs – but I shudder to think of them coming up with some complex law of the land to cover every single variation of blog. They opened pandora’s box. They better know how to wrangle all that is spilling out now without shutting out a blogger’s best interests.
I love how all this just fuels the perception that we bloggers are raking it in. I for one don’t make enough to buy that cup of coffee. I’m open about things I get for free and do so because I am honest, not because I am scared or forced.
Right on perspective. The regulations also presume that “bloggers” are a type of writer, instead of a publishing platform that can be used in a myriad of ways, like different channels on TV. I wish they better understood the medium, the compensation models (and lack there of) and the way blogs are read before issuing regulations that are going to have to be amended.
I agree with Backpacking Dad that if bloggers are being forced to disclose where the product they review comes from, then so should products that appear/featured in TV programs, especially reality shows. When you see the Duggar family cleaning the kitchen with a bottle of Pledge label facing out, it’s there because they got that product for free or as a paid product placement. When one of the family mentions how they like how it cleans, how is that different from a blogger writing the same thing? The only difference is that the blogger is required to disclose how they got the item (as they should) but the person on TV isn’t. Chances are unless you know how the TV industry works, Joe viewer won’t know that they just saw a paid product ad. They will just think that the TV personality likes the product and will be more likely to purchase it. I think that on reality shows in particular, when showing a product/trip/etc. there should be a disclaimer on the lower third of the screen telling viewers if the item was given to the show for free or the show accepted payment for it.
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While the FTC isn’t necessarily targeting us small bloggers, it is still disconcerting to feel the need to say, “Um, I paid for this product with my own money.” every time I talk about something as well. I’m struggling with a way to balance it all. So for now, I just try to be upfront with readers about the items I do receive.
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