FTC says bloggers must be honest about paid reviews, freebies
Tuesday, October 6, 2009 at 9:30AM 
TUSR contributor Rebecca Day wrote an article about possible health benefits of teas. It is a standing policy here that we accept no compensation or freebies in exchange for a review. Day just happens to like tea and she decided to write about it.Shown here is a favorite green tea, Fruta Bomba.The Federal Trade Commission has had a wary eye on bloggers for awhile, and now the agency has published new guidelines for bloggers who publish testimonials and endorsements. Bottom line: if you get a free sample of a product for review, and you write about the product, you must disclose your arrangement. Same goes for writing a paid review—you must disclose your relationship with the advertiser. You also must explain whether your review describes a typical result or whether the results are not typical. The FTC offered examples in an apparent attempt to clarify the guidelines.
