Directly advertising to consumers through blogs is an ever increasing trend, tapping into the fact that consumers are turning to the internet before making almost any kind of purchase. Faced with ever increasing choices of products and services in conjunction with ever tightening belts, consumers are using any available tool to make smart purchasing decisions, from mascara and protein bars to cars and houses.
Once the financial power of the blog was recognized, the rise of the “fakosphere” replete with fake blogs (“flogs”) was a foregone conclusion.
Brad Sullivan who writes on consumer fraud and internet scam issues for MSNBC, chronicles the rise of the fakeosphere and how it operates. He states that many flogs are carefully crafted to look exactly like a real blog complete with user comments and lively chat. The flogs will even include a few somewhat negative or skeptical comments regarding the product or service for sale to increase credibility.
Mr. Sullivan’s article provides another example of how the point of the much-maligned new FTC guidelines (see our previous discussion of the guidelines here) are not about destroying enthusiastic bloggers, but protecting consumers from insidious internet scamming. Mary Engle, Director of the FTC’s Division of Advertising Practices says that the agency is targeting floggers, telling MSNBC that “‘[a]dvertising always has to be clear that it’s advertising’” and “[a]n ad disguised as a blog, or a blog where companies get people to pose as satisfied customers and write reviews, both are deceptive.’”
If flogs disclose that they are flogs, they may avoid running afoul of the new guidelines. While flogs can be used as a legitimate advertising technique, the FTC appears to be looking upon them with an especially beady eye due to the inherently deceptive nature of the idea of flogs. Thus, advertisers who are using flogs to market to consumers should err on the side of making the advertising nature of the flog extremely clear as it is as not yet clear and conspicuous what type of disclosures the FTC would consider to be adequate for this form of advertising. For the FTC’s views on what is clear and conspicuous as far as disclosures on websites, click here.
- Candida Harty and Amy Mudge
