I do some affiliate marketing and was wondering how everyone is getting into compliance. I think im in compliance with truthful landing pages that dont make crazy claims that are not later disclosed. Also im including at the very bottom of my pages something like "I have a material connection with every advertiser/link on this entire website" What really makes me wonder is what is considered clear and conspicuous ? If I put this at the bottom of my site in the tiny text - is that not clear and conspicuous? What are you guys doing to get ftc compliant?
Here's a good post with lots of resources and suggestions. I even think I posted a Disclosure Policy Generator further down in that thread. New FTC Rules, Fines to $11,000 - Affiliates and Bloggers Must Read
Tiny texts are NOT "clear and conspicuous", you're joking, right? Such disclaimers are used by some webmasters to PRETEND that they comply with the rules but the main goal of using a tiny font is no one to read that text!
I think we'll have to wait until one unlucky blogger goes to court for a precedent to be set. I, for one, would like to see how unpopular this new law becomes. Here's the actual endorsement guidelines.
Honestly, I don't think it is as big of a deal as people are making it out to be. Obviously, you want to stay legal, but I think you have to look at the overall idea behind why the FTC changed these regulations. They were sick and tired of advertisers being dishonest about their products. They saw the acai berry scams and the federal government grant scams and quickly saw that something needed to be done. It's these types of things that they will be jumping on. If you are an honest advertiser, you have a small disclaimer on those testimonials about how results are not always typical, and are honest with potential buyers, you'll be fine.
So what are you doing, putting them above the fold? Are the links in my footer unreadable? No they are clear and can be found easily What do YOU suggest
I agree. the FTC is after the Acai Berry types (it's a free trial but we'll rape your credit card anyway) Also..remember that prosecutions are complaint driven...unless you piss off a lot of customers you'll be fine! Don't worry folks!
Surprisingly, it seems that you didn't understand yet what the problem is. Not the position (header, footer) is the problem, but the size. "Tiny text" is not related to the position in page but to the size. Why don't you use a normal size (like the rest of the page except for the headlines that usually are bigger)? Otherwise it looks like you're trying to hide something, even this is not your intention. When a visitor gets this impression, it doesn't matter whether she/he has right or not. She/he will run away and you lost a prospect. In the situation described above, even if that "tiny text" will be considered legal by the appropriate authority, you still lost that prospect ... Is this what you're looking for?
You've got a point, idk, I always figured things like the Privacy policy would be in tiny text, I suppose not on affiliate landing pages. Lots of sites put the privacy in tiny text, like google, I just figure since it isnt part of the site's real content id like to minimize it's screen-estate. Thanks for the post