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Ad Council Calls for Fair Blogging Practices

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09/09/2009 | admin     321 Times Read

The FTC, along with the National Advertising Review Council, has been investigating two blogging websites that have been promoting certain products and giving reviews that may be inaccurate. These companies, Herbal Groups Inc and Urban Nutrition, have been shown to pay writers to post fake reviews of products that they did not actually own. This practice violates the FTC’s Guides and Endorsements and Testimonials, where they lay down ethical boundaries on providing accurate testimonials for their customers.

These testimonials were designed to appear convincing to the customers by posting contact information of its writers so even skeptic readers of the blog can call the reviewer and ask questions. While it is common for companies to hire writers for their blogs, it is not common for the writers to be paid to write inaccurate testimonials for the purpose of cheating their customers.

The FTC is still trying to decide whether it is the fault of the writers, the blog-creator, or both. This incident also raises the issue that much of the information on the internet may be inaccurate, as anybody can write a blog. The reader has no way of knowing whether the writer is a professional American journal writer or a 12-year-old child sitting in his basement at 1am in the morning. (I am the first, for those who are curious…) Given how easily the false blog succeeded on the internet, it may not be the last time that such a blog misleads its readers, particularly for the purpose of making money.

Subscribe to comments feed Comments (16 posted):

steven on 10/25/2009
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The Advertising Council, in partnership with the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA), announced today the launch of a new series of public service advertisements (PSAs) designed to teach consumers how to recognize predatory lending before it occurs, and how to avoid becoming a victim.
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steven on 10/25/2009
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Predatory lending is the practice of unfair, unethical and in some instances illegal lending practices designed specifically to deceive unsuspecting homeowners who have equity in their homes and are thinking of refinancing
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douf on 10/25/2009
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Predatory lending practices can also effect home purchasers. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, predatory lending is a growing problem in today's society.
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tins on 10/25/2009
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"I am confident that these new PSAs will shed light on the growing problem of predatory lending in our communities,
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cindy on 10/25/2009
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Predatory practices still occur and they can happen even in the prime market. When consumers are not aware of their true risk and the lending options available to them, they can be taken advantage of. While no consumer should be expected to become a lending expert in order to get a fair loan, knowing the right questions to ask will certainly put consumers in a position to get the best loan available to them."
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mikey on 10/25/2009
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exploitation of consumers have always been done some way or the other
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brandon on 10/25/2009
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The Ad Council (www.adcouncil.org) is a private, non-profit organization that marshals talent from the advertising and communications industries, the facilities of the media, and the resources of the business and non-profit communities to produce, distribute and promote public service campaigns on behalf of non-profit organizations and government agencies in issue areas such as improving the quality of life for children, preventive health, education, community well-being, environmental preservation and strengthening families.
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tina on 10/25/2009
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no doubt blogging has entered our lifes drastically but somewhere this is causing harm to we the consumers so friend be ware
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stephaine on 10/25/2009
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beat any consumer oriented product all the products should be standardised .a check of it must be made
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john on 10/25/2009
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none of the hazardous practices are possible without the support of writers or blog creators
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