FTC Mandating Blogger Disclosure

The Federal Trade Commission, known for going after scan artists around the country, has taken on another scourge: bloggers. The FTC, through amending the myriad of regulations that they maintain, has stated that blogs must disclose when reviews of products are paid or when bloggers talk about items given to them free from companies. Naturally, they use the threat of fines that could total $11K for failing to disclose freebies.

What a waste of regulatory paper. People don't need to see a disclosure when determining whether there is bias in a review. People are smart enough to think that something may be unusual when someone is gushing about a product. Even if someone can't determine when one review may be biased, reading a blogger's aggregate work makes it very unlikely anyone has ever been fooled by a paid-off blogger.

However, those who complain to the FTC fall in two groups: stupid and lonely. Those are the people the FTC seeks to protect. So some idiot is now saved from believing a review.

The problem is that lots of legitimate bloggers have to worry that they aren't sufficiently disclosing. Take Christopher Elliott, of www.elliott.org. He reviews hotels and resorts in Florida and other places around the country, as well as acting as a consumer travel advocate. It's quite obvious that the places he reviews either comp his stay or discount it. Over the years, it is clear it does not influence him. Now he has to place a disclaimer, quite possibly on every blog he writes that reviews something, specifying that he received a discount or free stay.

Another reason bureaucracy just makes things worse.