Hello everyone, A few months ago, I started creating micro niche blogs (I mostly monetize these blogs with AdSense and Amazon products). With that said, what exactly do I have to add to these blogs to make them compliant with the FTC? Some suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, Gordon
Do you have a privacy policy in place? Basically, if you follow your terms and post your terms, you should be okay, I guess. Here's example of complying with FTC, but you may be looking for something more complicated? here
You say you "mostly" monetize the blogs with AdSense and Amazon products. If you are only providing information and not directly selling any goods or services, a fairly simple privacy policy and Terms of Use should probably cover you. The buyer of products from Amazon would be covered by the Amazon terms. If you are selling goods or services yourself, you should read the FTC policy guide here.
Thank you for the information. I was also wondering, should I include a disclaimer like this in my privacy policy: Disclaimer: Product and service recommendations on this site contain some affiliate links that pays compensation to my company if you make a purchase (this would be mostly for the Amazon links).
If you are making "endorsements" as defined by FTC Guidelines here, you should comply with those guidelines. They are far too long to summarize accurately in a post, so you should read them. Keep in mind, however, that the most recent changes in the Guidelines cover a variety of activities that bloggers have routinely done in the past. While putting a disclaimer in your TOS is probably a good idea, I do not believe that a disclaimer of a general nature in your TOS will cover a specific endorsement. If a manufacturer of a game sent you a free game, noting in your TOS that some game manufacturers provide you with free games does not appear to comply with the guidelines. Affiliate links to to sellers of a variety of products, like Amazon, are not really the focus of the Guidelines, so it is difficult to say whether or how the Guidelines would apply. For example, if you are evaluating SLR cameras, you typically don't care which manufacturer or model of SLR camera a consumer may purchase. You get the same percentage whether they buy a Nikon or a Canon, so there is no reason to expect that the commission you receive will affect your objectivity. But the changes to the guidelines are only a few months old and how they play out is yet to be seen.
I signed up for the Auto Web Law Pro service (I do believe it cost me $97). So with that said, all my blogs are now compliant with the FTC. Thanks for all the replies.
Mmmhh... that solve all the problem... thanks for sharing. Never know someone could face such a problem. Looks not crucial yet very irritating if we don't know how to handle it. Thank you Gordon Hay for sharing your problem and solution to me.
You get a ton of legal documents for $97 (that's a sweet deal). With that said, I don't think you can get coupons.
I live in Canada, and all my blogs are all compliant with the FTC (At least 60% of my traffic comes from the USA). With that said, I think its best to play it safe. You can always talk to a lawyer, or look into an online service like Auto Web Law Pro. They have country specific documents for Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Like I said earlier, you get a ton of legal documents for $97. I am very pleased with the product, maybe I should become an affiliate.