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HELP!! My Question About the New FTC Guidelines...

by Chris Hunter
8 replies
Ok, it's my understanding that you have to disclose if you've been paid for a review that you place on your site.

I understand this to mean that you were paid BEFORE you made the review, such as this scenario:

Company comes to you and says "We'll pay you $XXX to review this on your blog/site"

You say "Ok."

You then review the product/service/whatever and state in the review that you did get paid by the company too review this product/service/whatever.

My question is this:

What if I review products on my site and I ONLY get paid AFTER someone goes to Amazon, eBay, wherever to buy what I'm reviewing?

In other words, I WAS NOT paid BEFORE I made the review at all; I only get paid AFTER someone reads my review, clicks my affiliate link, and orders what I reviewed.

I'm looking at sites like Get Rich Slowly and The Simple Dollar as examples of what I'm asking. They do a lot of financial book reviews and their reviews lead to Amazon for affiliate commissions. They don't get paid before they review the book, they get paid AFTERWARDS.

Should I put a disclaimer page on my blog stating that if someone reads my reviews of whatever books I review on my blog and they click my link to go to Amazon, eBay, wherever, that I will make a small commission?

How should I address this?

Thanks, Warriors! Help a brothah out!
#ftc #guidelines #question
  • Profile picture of the author Chris Hunter
    Anyone? Bueller?
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    Ok, sure. You can follow me on Twitter - http://twitter.com/Chris_Hunter ;)

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  • Profile picture of the author Steven Carl Kelly
    You should disclose that you get a commission on sales of these books through Amazon.
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    Read this SURPRISING REPORT Before You Buy ANY WSO! Click Here
    FREE REPORT: Split Test Your Landing Pages the Easy Way
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  • Profile picture of the author Chris Hunter
    That's it?

    Because the sites that I mentioned aren't doing that at all.

    But I'm thinking that since a book review isn't making any claims that there really isn't a big issue here.

    What do you all think?
    Signature

    Ok, sure. You can follow me on Twitter - http://twitter.com/Chris_Hunter ;)

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    • Profile picture of the author Steven Carl Kelly
      Originally Posted by Chris Hunter View Post

      That's it? Because the sites that I mentioned aren't doing that at all.
      Well, you can cover yourself or not cover yourself. The choice is yours. I have Amazon affiliate sites and I have a disclaimer to all of them -- and I'm not even doing reviews on the sites.
      Signature
      Read this SURPRISING REPORT Before You Buy ANY WSO! Click Here
      FREE REPORT: Split Test Your Landing Pages the Easy Way
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  • Profile picture of the author Chris Hunter
    That's cool, Steven.

    Do you have the disclaimer with every page or do you have just one page on your site that addresses that?

    By the way, REALLY liked the video in your sig.
    Signature

    Ok, sure. You can follow me on Twitter - http://twitter.com/Chris_Hunter ;)

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  • Profile picture of the author lingodan
    You can Go Here, disclosurepolicy.org (can't post a link Yet)
    You get to pick what you want it to say and there is no cost, and it's not an affiliate link.
    When it comes to the Fed it's best to CYA, they can make your life hell!
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    • Profile picture of the author Scott Ames
      Originally Posted by lingodan View Post

      You can Go Here, disclosurepolicy.org (can't post a link Yet)
      You get to pick what you want it to say and there is no cost, and it's not an affiliate link.
      When it comes to the Fed it's best to CYA, they can make your life hell!
      I can post a link , so here it is:

      DisclosurePolicy.org: Disclosure Policy, Disclosure Policy Generator

      That's what I would use. Depending on how $ big you are you might even have your attorney look it over or whip up a new one. I have no idea who is behind that site and if the disclosure is iron clad or not.
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      Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. -Winston Churchill

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  • Profile picture of the author DogScout
    My sources say the disclosure has to be with in 'reasonable' proximity of the affiliate link.
    My source also suggested the font be in 12 or larger (use small font )
    (I know, that is not a very popular answer, the real answer is, the law was written so that they could go after whomever they choose. IMO.)
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