WASHINGTON: The Federal Trade Commission said October 5 that bloggers, celebrity endorsers, and other word-of-mouth marketers must now disclose their connection to advertisers or risk being found liable for failure to reveal those relationships. The new guidelines, "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising," are the first update to the rules since 1980.
The FTC now specifies that bloggers, word-of-mouth marketers, and celebrities will be held liable for not making "material connections" such as payments or free products ...