FTC Releases Disclosure Guide for Influencers

The Federal Trade Commission has released a new publication for online influencers that lays out the agency’s rules of the road for when and how influencers must disclose sponsorships to their followers. The new guide, “Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers,” provides influencers with tips from FTC staff about what triggers the need for a disclosure…

Webinar 4/26: Social Media Influencers and the FTC

Jeffrey Greenbaum and I will be presenting a webinar on Social Media Influencers and the FTC on Thursday, April 26th at Noon Pacific. The Federal Trade Commission is paying increased attention to social media influencer marketing. After a series of warnings, the FTC has begun enforcement actions against influencers and their advertisers.  What do influencers…

CLBR #288: FTC and Influencer Marketing with Jeffrey A. Greenbaum

FTC and Influencer Marketing with Jeffrey A. Greenbaum LISTEN/DOWNLOAD Jeffrey A. Greenbaum, Managing Partner of Frankfurt Kurnit, returns to discuss the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) increased focus on Influencer Marketing. Topics Covered State of the FTC Honored that @POTUS has expressed his intent to nominate me as a judge on the U.S. Court of Federal…

FTC Nails Social Media Influencers, Warns Others

The Federal Trade Commission recently settled with “TmarTn” Martin and Thomas “Syndicate” Cassell, two social media influencers who are widely followed in the online gaming community, on charges that they deceptively endorsed the online gambling service CSGO Lotto, while failing to disclose they jointly owned the company. They also allegedly paid other well-known influencers thousands of…

Lord & Taylor Enters Native Advertising Consent Decree

In 2009, the Federal Trade Commission updated its endorsement guidelines to, among other things, include bloggers. In 2013 it updated its DotCom Disclosure guidelines to address social media.   It issued numerous warnings before finally cracking down in 2015 in the AmeriFreight matter. For the past several years, the Federal Trade Commission expressed increasing concern over the use…

FTC Goes After Roca Labs for False Claims and Consumer Gag Orders

FTC GOES AFTER ROCA LABS FOR “ADVERSARIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE TRUTH” AND USE OF GAG ORDERS Last week the Federal Trade Commission filed an enforcement action against Roca Labs, Inc. and Roca Labs Nutraceutical USA, Inc.; as  marketers of a line of weight-loss supplements who allegedly made baseless claims for their products, and then threatened to…

Cyber Report: A Dozen Things You Need to Know (Patriot’s Day Edition)

April 20, 2015 A Dozen Things in Tech You Need to Know  Happy Patriot’s Day! Patriot’s Day commemorates that Battle of Lexington and Concord and the “shot heard ’round the world” that began the American Revolution.  It is a holiday in Maine and Massachachusetts and celebrated by, among other things, the running of the Boston…

After Several Check Swings, FTC Hits Company Over Incentivizing Reviews

FTC Sanctions AmeriFreight for Touting Incentivized Reviews As reported most recently in FTC Declines to Take Action Over Yahoo! Astroturfing, the Federal Trade Commission had shown great reluctance to sanctions firms for violating the Endorsement Guidelines updated in 2009 to address social media.  In December, however, the FTC sanctioned Deutsch LA for using its employees to…

FTC Declines to Take Action Over Yahoo! Astroturfing

FTC Issues No Action Letter Over Yahoo! Astroturfing The Federal Trade Commission has declined to take action In response to press reports that Yahoo! employees posted positive reviews of Yahoo! mobile apps on iTunes without disclosing their affiliation as required by the FTC’s Endorsement Guidelines. The FTC enumerated the following factors for this decision: there were…