Are Most Affiliates On GFY Breaking The Law ! ?
 

Thats the question im asking myself ..maybe someone could give more info.....

I promote a few mainstream products (inc adult) and noticed that this text appears when signing up to some mainstream affiliate programs....

**Pursuant to Federal Trade Commission Guidelines, you must disclose your Affiliate status in all promotional content so that readers, listeners, and/or viewers of such content are fully informed of the material connection between you and us. Specifically, the recipients of such marketing materials must be told that you may be compensated by us if a purchase is made via your Affiliate hyperlink. **

So is it just a guideline ? or is it law ? and does it affect affiliates promoting adult sites ?

Thanks in advance for any answers.:)

Sounds like that particular companies policy.

I don't know all the ins and outs of it, but it is a law. I've seen bloggers adapting to it.

The gist I got from it is any editorial content, such as a product review or reccomendation, that is done for the purpose of promotion must contain a disclosure that the blogger / publisher has an affiliate relationship w/ said company or that they have been paid for the review, etc etc

I would look into it for yourself and form your own conclusion though.

this is kinda old, like a year

It's a "law" that they were working on last summer... in which they fully admit has absolutely no teeth because there is no possible way to enforce it. More time wasting by lawmakers... shocking!

Until I see Google, Yahoo and Microsoft posting such notices on their search engines for the sponsored ads they show, I wouldn't be concerned.

I'm not a lawyer and these are only my personal opinions. If you need legal advice, hire qualified legal counsel.

A lot of affiliate managers require this because they don't want you fucking up their brand with shady marketing. They'll want your logo on the top left of the page, then their "affiliate network" logo on the top right of the page.

They're just trying to protect their brand.

Yes I remember reading about it last yr for bloggers etc .....maybe it only applies if its not sort of obvious to the surfer like a magazine review or hidden recommendation ?

It's pretty much a guideline.. As Sly mentioned, it can't be enforced. A company can require basically whatever if you agree to their TOS when signing up, though.. so if that company says it, do it.

Yes it is...I remember reading about it last yr concerning bloggers etc but what brought it back to my attention was the fact that today it was added to a few of my affiliate sign up pages ...so was looking to find the latest info...

It had to do with reviews where people were getting free items in exchange for a review.

Don't worry about it. Just promote us.

Cool ... :)

I wasnt sure if FTC guidelines are law or just that...guidelines.

Ps...Thanks to everyone who posted.

good luck:)