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-   -   New FTC guidelines re comp'd trips & such (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/external-miles-points-resources/1685469-new-ftc-guidelines-re-compd-trips-such.html)

sbm12 Jun 5, 2015 9:11 am
New FTC guidelines re comp'd trips & such
 
Say you’re planning a vacation. You do some research and find a glowing review on someone’s blog that a particular resort is the most luxurious place he has ever stayed. If you knew the hotel had paid the blogger hundreds of dollars to say great things about it or that the blogger had stayed there for several days for free, it could affect how much weight you’d give the blogger’s endorsement. The blogger should, therefore, let his readers know about that relationship.
Previously comp'd trips were considered (by some) part of the regular way of doing business and not requiring disclosure. The new FTC guidelines now suggest that any communication about such, from a tweet to a full blog post, is considered sponsored content and must be disclosed as such. :eek:

It will be interesting to see how this is adopted within the community.

Kagehitokiri Jun 5, 2015 9:21 am
law enforcement actions can result in orders requiring the defendants in the case to give up money they received from their violations
what has the history of this been?

sbm12 Jun 5, 2015 9:32 am
Originally Posted by Kagehitokiri (Post 24923816)
what has the history of this been?
Roughly nil. Elsewhere in the doc the FTC admits that it is more likely to go after the vendor than the blogger, but that it will investigate if appropriate. I really wonder how it will affect someone like JohnnyJet, for whom roughly EVERYTHING is a comp'd event. I think it is less of an issue in this community, though I know a few who do comp'd press trips and write trip reports or who take free lodgings and write about that.

Arguably the recent spate of posts about Clear should have been disclosed as ads under these rules, too.

Kagehitokiri Jun 5, 2015 10:07 am
IIRC there was a previous thing from FTC about social media, dont recall what it was

sbm12 Jun 5, 2015 11:23 am
Originally Posted by Kagehitokiri (Post 24924057)
IIRC there was a previous thing from FTC about social media, dont recall what it was
It was less clear and less strict than this version. This is the first time that comp'd trips have been explicitly called out versus other forms of compensation.

Basically, in the past people would say that they didn't receive "real" payment so the comp'd trip disclosure was not required as it was not a paid event. This changes that.

cruisr Jun 5, 2015 11:37 am
Originally Posted by sbm12 (Post 24923773)
Previously comp'd trips were considered (by some) part of the regular way of doing business and not requiring disclosure. The new FTC guidelines now suggest that any communication about such, from a tweet to a full blog post, is considered sponsored content and must be disclosed as such. :eek:

It will be interesting to see how this is adopted within the community.
I'm in favor of it. What would be the negative to the readers of a blogger saying the trip was comped?

kokonutz Jun 5, 2015 2:02 pm
Originally Posted by cruisr (Post 24924548)
I'm in favor of it. What would be the negative to the readers of a blogger saying the trip was comped?
Oh, it would HELP the reader understand the perhaps-bought perspective of the blogger.

The negative is for the vendor, who buys the blogger's good review with comped accommodations. Because now folks will know the good review was bought rather than organic.

My company sponsors a few of bloggers by comping stuff to them. But our lawyers are very conservative and already require massive disclosure about the relationship.

sbm12 Jun 5, 2015 5:03 pm
Originally Posted by kokonutz (Post 24925277)
My company sponsors a few of bloggers by comping stuff to them. But our lawyers are very conservative and already require massive disclosure about the relationship.
Does that disclosure include tagging every tweet with "AD" in some form or another? If not you're probably acting counter to the new rules.

Mary2e Jun 5, 2015 7:02 pm
It's about time someone cracked down on this. It started out small, with the entire blogging industry, and now it's just another advertising expense.

Just like Google & yahoo have to report that search results are sponsored and ads marked as such, bloggers should have to do the same.

kokonutz Jun 5, 2015 8:40 pm
Originally Posted by sbm12 (Post 24926002)
Does that disclosure include tagging every tweet with "AD" in some form or another? If not you're probably acting counter to the new rules.
Yes.

Much to my chagrin.


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