Let me first say I am not being paid by the FTC to write this article.

Now for the fun stuff. The FTC has updated their guidelines and of particular interest are the Endorsement Guidelines. These are being applied to bloggers. They have created a series of short videos to answer the basic questions, all the videos are found here.

There is not much clarity in the guidelines other than to say the bar has been raised with respect to disclosure. Exactly when you must disclose, how and in what form is a little gray. They do provide examples however questions still remain around affiliate marketing.

If you only have time to watch one of the videos take a look at this one entitled: “What do the Endorsement Guides mean for bloggers?” By the way you may want to read them all, whether you are an advertiser or a blogger as civil fines can be as high as $11,000 per violation.

An excellent discussion can also be found here at the Reve News blog.