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Thursday, March 14, 2013

New FTC Disclosure Guidelines for Bloggers

I'm interrupting the Review Blitz once again to bring you this very important message...

I realize that many of you don't have blogs, but I'm posting this because, effective immediately, you're going to see a small change in the blog posts here on Nouveau Cheap, and I wanted to let you know why.

This month, the Federal Trade Commission updated its guidelines about disclosures. You can read the full, updated set of guidelines here. Fellow blogger Carleen of Beauty and Fashion Tech wrote an incredibly helpful, detailed piece about these new guidelines here. If you're a blogger (of any kind) I strongly suggest reading Carleen's blog post.

What you can expect to see on Nouveau Cheap from here on out: Effective immediately, all of my product reviews will begin and end with a disclosure if I have received a product for free or if I had paid for it with my own funds. I have ALWAYS told you, within the first paragraph of my product reviews, whether something was given to me for free or if I paid for it, but now I'm going to make it the very first sentence of each product review, followed with my usual disclosure at the end of the review.

Also, if I happen to rave about a product on social media (Twitter or Facebook) I will start my rave with "given to me for free" or "paid for with my own funds" before I say something like, "I love this new lipgloss!"

That's about it--I just wanted to give you a heads-up about this in case you thought the sudden abundance of disclosures was coming out of nowhere. Again, if you blog, I urge you to read the guidelines for yourself at the link above.


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25 comments

  1. I have a small blog so I feel weird about having to do something like that. Like I'm not worthy or something. Lol! But thanks for the info. Will look it over tonight.

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    1. It doesn't matter the size...rules are rules! :)

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  2. Thank you for this post - I had totally missed this news! The linked article is so helpful!

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  3. Does this also apply to vloggers on YouTube? TIA

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    1. I don't do YT videos so i'm not sure, but I THINK that YouTube has their own set of FTC disclosure guidelines.

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    2. I hope so! I think they should have to state it during the video, not just hide some disclaimer in the description box. LOL

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  4. I think it's great. I can't tell you how many reviews or articles (not yours) I have read only to find out at the end it's simply nothing more than an paid advertisement. While there are some honest bloggers out there I seem to find a lot more who would sell their soul for a free product or kickback. I just saw a video a couple of days ago from a YTer who was showing off the "goodie box" Loreal sent her.. a huge box full of products and they even sent a freaking Ipad because they know she will provide next to free advertising for them. "Blogvertising" has become the norm, and it stinks. We "the people" created these resources to help ourselves share, discuss, and educate each other about something we are passionate about and it's shameful that it's being hijacked for profit. It should be against the law.. but at least we are being warned.

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    1. An ipad?! Wow. I don't know, I have mixed feelings about it. I can only imagine how much work bloggers put into their blogs and I really appreciate their reviews. Can they really be objective though when they get a free ipad?? Free product is great, but it is free advertising so I think bloggers should be able to get a little something for their work.

      That said, I think Nouveau Cheap is a great blog with honest opinions. Thanks for all your hard work! And that is not a paid opinion nor did I receive any kickbacks :-P

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  5. I have always appreciated that you make it clear if you received a product or you purchased it, so thank you!

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  6. Thank you so much!!! I'm starting a blog in the next few days or so and I had no idea... Life saver!

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  7. Thanks for posting this if you hadn't I probably wouldn't have known about the update on disclosures. Thanks so much!

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  8. Hi G! Do these guidelines apply to Canadian bloggers as well?

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  9. I have a weird (but honest) question. What if someone doesn't follow these rules? Is the FTC capable of fining or penalizing? I have a small blog and I have always followed the guidelines (and will continue to do so), but I was just wondering.

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  10. Can we just hashtag it #gtmff ? LOL. Sadly we have to say it twice because the reader can't seem fit to read the entire article. sigh..

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    1. Don't forget, there will still be the odd reader who will miss it when told twice. ;) So, in a few years, every time the product is directly mentioned (either by name or the type of product) the blogger will have to re-disclose again whether or not they bought it or were provided it. LOL

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  11. Thanks so much for posting! Im a noob to the blogaverse everything iv eposted way bought of my own accord but its good to be aware of.

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  12. I wonder if we have to go back to any old posts that had products sent for review and make sure the disclaimer is at the top? I always include one at the bottom, but I wonder if this applies to older past posts? Thank you for Sharing G!

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  13. Wow, this is interesting. I'm in Canada, and if I'm not mistaken, we don't have those rules to follow. I always disclose whether a product was sent to me for review, often in the first sentence and at the end anyway, so I suppose I'm following the rules anyway!

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    1. You don't but if you work with any US brands, they do...which means you do too. The FTC law is about protecting consumers and they company can't get out of that obligation by using bloggers who live out of the country.

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  14. ThAnk you for posting this! One of my girlfriends and I are starting a beauty blog this month and I had no idea about these rules!

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  15. Thanks for the link to my article! For those asking about YouTube, yes the FTC guides do apply to online video and audio. You should disclose near the beginning of your video. When I do video, I also usually put a disclosure in the notes section on YouTube. For the question about Canada, no it does not apply there. This is US based regulation. But I would argue that ethically, disclosure is always the right thing to do. In regard to fines and such, the FTC can bring enforcement actions, which can lead to fines. In reality, the odds of them going after a small blog are quite slim. But they have gone after brands when bloggers did not disclose their relationship with the brand. The very first enforcement investigation after the original guide update a few years ago was against Ann Taylor in connection with a blogger event where some bloggers failed to disclose (They later absolved Ann Taylor of wrong doing).

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  16. G, once again, thank you! -Leslie

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