The Federal Trade Commission has cleared up some rules regarding bloggers and reviews of products or services. Basically, if you blog and review a service or retail product AND get paid by producer of the service or product specifically for the review, you must disclose that fact.
The FTC news release can be found here.
And a New York Times explanation of the ruling is also helpful.
Luckily it appears that if there is a violation, the enforcement would be focused on the producer, not the blogger or other poster in question. Seems like a fairly ethical rule that's easy to follow: If someone pays you to promote a product, that's an ADVERTISEMENT, not a review. And should be labeled as such. I've never been paid for anything on this blog. And there are no ads, not even Google Ads. hat may change one day, but not right now. I do like to promote places I like, especially if they serve good vegan food or have great service, etc. But no one's offered me free food as payment just yet... (hint, hint!)
The FTC news release can be found here.
And a New York Times explanation of the ruling is also helpful.
Luckily it appears that if there is a violation, the enforcement would be focused on the producer, not the blogger or other poster in question. Seems like a fairly ethical rule that's easy to follow: If someone pays you to promote a product, that's an ADVERTISEMENT, not a review. And should be labeled as such. I've never been paid for anything on this blog. And there are no ads, not even Google Ads. hat may change one day, but not right now. I do like to promote places I like, especially if they serve good vegan food or have great service, etc. But no one's offered me free food as payment just yet... (hint, hint!)
