Yesterday the FTC issued its “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising“. This is the new regulation that covers social media and word of mouth marketing. As you know, I have been a leading advocate for ethics in word of mouth. After a detailed read of the document, I can say: I’m [...]
Tag Archives: disclosure
Explain to your boss why you risked the company’s reputation with an illegal stealth marketing campaign
TechCrunch has outed Reverb Communication for posting fake reviews for iPhone Apps. They sell a service where their PR clients pay them to post fake reviews in the App Store. Apple should ban both Reverb and all their clients for one year. TechCrunch should win an award for continued excellence in uncovering sleaze. Remember, paying [...]
An ethical way to earn a living as a blogger
Many people misunderstand my ongoing opposition to spam-shop Izea as opposition to bloggers earning a living. To be clear: Bloggers have every right to have a business, to sell advertising, and make a living — if you follow the basic rules of ethics and disclosure that have existed for decades in all forms of media. [...]
You’d be fired if you paid for fake testimonials in your TV ads …
… so why would you even consider using a service like Izea to pay bloggers to write about you? Just because it's social media doesn't make it right. This isn't an issue of fine lines and gray areas: Writing an endorsement of a product you have never used is illegal and has always been illegal [...]
You will always get caught
Belkin is the latest example of a company caught in an unethical word of mouth campaign. They had an employee paying for fake positive reviews, and trying to hide bad reviews. That’s unethical, sleazy, and they got caught. Read about it here: 1 2 3 and all over the web. This story wiped out any [...]
Anonymity vs. civility
It can get pretty nasty online. Much of this nastiness comes from anonymity. People post comments with a bitter meanness that they would never use in a face-to-face conversation. I’m not a fan of anonymity. I think people should stand by their words. That’s why I’m one of the founders of the disclosure movement. [...]
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