On Monday the Federal Trade Commission released new rules regarding paid endorsements on blogs. I think the blogosphere momentarily imploded from all the panic and hand wringing. For most bloggers the new rules aren’t a big deal. Nothing to see here. Carry on.

Some bloggers (in and beyond the wed industry) are paid by companies to post (often glowing) reviews of their product/service. The payment can come in the form of cash, free product, paid trips, or other incentives. Some bloggers have been very open about it. Others have not. What the FTC has done is established a rule that says bloggers must disclose when they’ve been “paid” to endorse/review/feature the product/service. If there is no disclosure, the blogger faces up to an $11,000 fine per incidence.

What constitutes “payment”? The FTC ruling is pretty broad (the 80+ page document is not what I’d call compelling reading) but these are things bloggers need to watch out for (based on MY interpretation of rules).

• Book reviews. If a publisher or author sends you a book to review, you need to disclose that info.
• Product reviews. Same thing. If you get free swag to review, you gotta say so.
• Preferred vendor listings. If you charge for placement on your PVL or directory that’s considered a paid endorsement.
• Advertorials/Paid Reviews: If you charge a company to post a review of their product, you gotta disclose that.

Some months back I asked my readers what kind of content they’d like more of on the site. On that list I had product reviews and got some really interesting feedback along the line of  “I don’t trust product reviews because you’re given these things for free. Why would you say anything bad?”

DIY Bride has received a few goodies here and there over the years for the purpose of review. The only ones that I’ve actually reviewed are a book (Bachelor Party Confidential) and a printer from Epson. In both reviews I mentioned that they were sent to me. I’ve always thought that was important and liked having that transparency with my readers. So, yeah, the FTC rule doesn’t really affect me.

Well, I’m putting this out here: The product reviews I do on DIY Bride (with a couple exceptions) are things I’ve purchased with my own very-hard-earned money. The couple of freebie products I have reviewed received my honest critique.  ‘Cos that’s how I roll at the DIY. I feel for those who must now change their business models or how they operate but I do think it’s for the best and wish them well.