According to a Federal Trade Commission regulation, (since 2009) bloggers who accept freebies must disclose this info to readers, yet print writers who, generally speaking, receive much more “valuable” booty, do NOT need to disclose this info to their readers. Abiding but having considered the distinction very unfair, I nearly fell off my chair when this New York magazine revelation flashed across my screen:

Bloggers at Racked asked FTC Lawyer Tracey Thomas about the situation, and Thomas’ answer blew me away:

Racked: We know that the FTC has gone after bloggers and companies that work with bloggers to mandate that we disclose online anytime we get anything free or attend an event that’s not open to the public. And we’re curious why the FTC has not gone after print publications?

FTC Lawyer Tracey Thomas: That’s a very good question I don’t think I have the answer to. I don’t know. I know that for bloggers and online, you do have to make disclosures. A lot of the things that I work on are bloggers or people who are only promoting products to get commissions or money or things like that. I’m not sure why we don’t apply that to print.

Are you kidding me?

via: NY Magazine.

UPDATE: (5.14.11) Just received word from the FTC’s Office of Public Affairs who suggests:

We have some great explanations about the revised Guides online <http://business.ftc.gov/documents/bus71-ftcs-revised-endorsement-guideswhat-people-are-asking> and in this short video <http://business.ftc.gov/multimedia/videos/endorsement-guides>.

I checked out the videos and personally, I still feel there’s lots of room for confusion. I don’t have the time to devote to the issue at length but here’s my current take on it, in brief:

I understand that the FTC is trying to “protect consumers” but I get the impression that the FTC doesn’t really understand the similarity rather than difference between bloggers and print/other media. They seem to be oversimplifying the issue.

In print – there are advertorials whereby sponsors pay for “editorial” and on the other hand there’s editorial about new products – whereby the FTC position seems to be: well, readers inherently understand that the magazine/paper has received complimentary product in order to try/test it.

Here’s my suggestion: If a blogger receives compensation, it’s “advertorial” and the post can indicate that, just as in print. And as in print, if a blogger receives a freebie and expresses her/his opinion about the product, I believe blog readers are perfectly capable of making the leap and realizing that the product was most likely provided gratis to the writer. I do NOT agree as the FTC recommends, that a disclosure be mandatory.

BTW, we have always “disclosed” when we receive a freebie due to our desire to be transparent to you – our readers – we do it out of a sense of respect and  from a position of common sense and courtesy – not because of an FTC rule. Over the course of the past four years we’ve received financial compensation on two occasions and have made that clear in each post as well. It will be interesting to see how things progress.