The following comes from Florentina Chichita, with our Action Affiliate in Romania:

As of December 1st 2009, bloggers in the US will be obliged to declare sums of money or goods received to blog about a product or service. The VIPs of social media will have to declare material benefits received to promote a company on Facebook or Twitter. These are, in brief, the new regulations of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

The fine for incompliance with the new rules can reach up to $11,000. How will the online environment evolve in the future in this context and what will be the impact of such decisions? What will be the distinction between an ‘endorsement’ (acting on behalf of the advertiser) and ‘personal opinion’ or how will the FTC monitor the application of this law?

A game of “catch me if you can” maybe? These are difficult questions to answer even by seasoned specialists.

Is the FTC right to create such rules? Some say the blogosphere representatives required this. And with online advertising having different facets, that are not always honest, this has become a good business. There are also opinions about blog advertising being similar to WOM advertising, as the blogger is perceived as an unbiased source, an honest dialogue partner. However it seems there are bloggers willing to post favorable articles, reviews or product presentations in return of money or goods.

… [read the entire post here]