Blogger Advertising & the Federal Trade Commission

Meredith LowryWright Lindsey Jennings LLP

mlowry@wlj.com@meredithlowry

Federal Trade Commission - FTC

Advertising Must be Truthful

Marketers Must Use Disclosures to Avoid Deception

Disclosures must be Clear & Conspicuous

#Spon WLJ is awesome. #AD

Advertisers Must Have Evidence for Claims

Bloggers & Advertising

Bloggers can be Advertisers and Endorsers

#Sponsored post – www.igotpaid.wordpress.com

Bloggers are Liable for Claims made that are Deceptive

Endorsers

Expresses His or Her Opinions

WLJ attorneys are awesome.

In a manner that Consumers would believe reflects the Opinions of a Person

other than the Actual Advertiser

WLJ attorneys are awesome.

#Spon. WLJ attorneys are awesome. #AD.

For a Product Used by the Endorser

Bloggers Advertising Liability

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Bloggers are liable for claims made that are Deceptive

Advertisers misrepresentations or Unsupported Representations

Disclaimers

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Disclaimers are not foolproof

Disclosures

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Relationship that Materially affects the Credibility of the Endorser must be Clearly & Conspicuously

DisclosedHyperlinks may NOT work for Every Situation

• Essentially, the marketers tricked consumers into providing their payment information, charged them for full price of the product, and enrolled them in a buying program with recurring fees.

• The FTC provided that if a company advertises a “risk free trial” that is what it must provide.

BunZai Media Group, Inc(AuraVie)

• Online marketers were using misleading “risk free trial” offers to sell skincare products.

• These marketers were advertising through banner ads and pop-up advertisement on third party websites.

FREE LUNCH! #nosuchthing

FREE

Allstar Marketing Group, LLC• A direct marketing company was selling “as-seen-on-TV” products

(Snuggies, Magic Mesh door covering, etc.). • Online consumers who opted to buy the products were required to pay

“processing and handling fees” that dramatically increased the price above the advertised price, and those fees were disclosed only in very fine print at the bottom of the webpage.

• The order requires the company to obtain customers’ written consent for billing them for any product or service and requires the company to conspicuously disclose the total number of products a customer has ordered, all fees and costs related to the purchase, and all material conditions related to the purchase.

FYI – Snuggies are not appropriate workplace attire.

CarePatrol, Inc; ABCSP, Inc.

• Two online companies were recommending long-term care facilities for senior citizens, apparently misleading consumers to think that they had researched the facilities and had detailed knowledge about them.

• The companies said they monitored and graded all of the facilities when in actuality they had not monitored or graded most, or any, of the facilities.

• The order requires that the company was barred from making false or unsubstantiated representations about their placement services, finding that “[s]enior citizens need honest information when they’re considering long term care options.”

Google, Inc.• Google was required to pay a record 22.5 million civil penalty to

settle FTC charges because Google had told users of Apple’s Safari Internet browser that it would not place “cookies” or serve targeted ads to those users, when actuality Google was placing cookies, including the ones Google specifically said would be blocked from the browsers.

• Google was charged the penalty because the misrepresentations violated a settlement it reached with the FTC from a prior issue.

Brown, Koby, individually, and d/b/a/ Dermapps, et al.

Three individuals claimed their smartphone app could cure acne.

The FTC warning order requires them to cease making claims about their apps, or about the safety, performance, benefits, or efficacy of any of their devices unless they have scientific support of the truth of those statements.

There’s an app for that. #theproofisinthepudding