TRAVERSE CITY – New Federal Communications Commission Regulations for Online endorsements and testimonials in advertising could impact your On-Line business, starting Dec. 1. And the fines could run up to $11,000 per post.

What: The FTC is adopting revised Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising with an effective date of December 1.

Who is Potentially Affected? Bloggers, affiliate marketers, companies who use affiliates, advertisers, manufacturers, endorsers, celebrities & employers whose employees endorse products without adequate disclosures or controls. For instance, a requirement that “bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service.”

Brian Hall, an attorney with Traverse Legal, which specializes in online law, said the FCC didn?t even publicize the changes until October. But now that the online world, at least in the United States, has started to get the word, the phones have been ringing off the hook at Traverse Legal.

?It could effect bloggers who get a product to review,? he said. ?It will effect advertisers who use other people to endorse their products. The consumer or celebrity who endorses the product must say the information is accurate, and the advertiser must say the endorsement is typical of what others can expert by using this products.

?I could be something like, ?I used this shampoo. It thickened my hair and I stopped going bald,? ? Hall said. ?If the results are not typical, the advertiser has to say what is typical. A disclaimer in fine print will no longer cut it.?

What prompted this? The trend towards avoiding consumer deception in advertising, Hall said. The FCC wants to make sure the consumer is protected. A lot of this change goes directly to what consumer reads or hears they assume they will get. The advertiser has the onus on them to make sure the consumer gets what the ad says. The advertiser has to support any claim made through an endorsement, same as if they said it themselves. And they need to back up the claim with proof.

For more information, click on TraverseLegal.Com

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