5 Comments on FTC ruling affecting bloggers and affiliate marketers

David N on Sat, 31st Oct 2009 12:22 am


I was wondering if the recent FTC blog ruling would effect Linkvana, Unique Article Wizard and the other link building services. Thanks for clearing this up.

Kevin Johnson on Tue, 10th Nov 2009 6:01 pm


Why do you think the guides don’t affect link building at all? When you build a link from one website to another using a keyword phrase as the anchor text, couldn’t that be considered an endorsement of the other website? Thanks, Kevin

Daniel McGonagle on Tue, 10th Nov 2009 7:22 pm


The ruling basically states that if you recommend something as an affiliate, you should reveal that you were compensated in some way (got review product, are an affiliate, got paid to write about it, etc…).

So if you leave a link in the commenting area linking back to your site, I’m not going to be held liable by the FTC for “recommending via linking” whatever it is you’re selling on your sites(s) if anything at all.

This has absolutely nothing to do with link building per se, but if you have affiliate banners and your links are affiliate links and if you are wording your content to entice a purchase, then that’s where the FTC ruling comes into play,

IF, IF IF.. you were compensated in some way to write a positive review or to promote the product.

Link building= site endorsement
Affiliate links = product endorsement

Big difference

tom on Wed, 2nd Dec 2009 8:15 pm


Do you have any recommendations on how I should implement some of the new regulations set forth by the FTC on December 1? For example, I have several affiliate links in a blog post. Should I put an asterik just before each affiliate link that points to a disclaimer at the bottom of the post stating that I will be compensated if they purchase the product after clicking on my link?

On this blog, I did not notice any adjustments to the new FTC regulations. Are you ignoring the new FTC regulations or are still trying to figure out how to implement them on this blog?

Daniel McGonagle on Wed, 2nd Dec 2009 10:13 pm


Hi tom,

I’m not ignoring these new FTC regs, but from what I have read what it all boils down to is revealing if your content is skewed/slanted by pre-publication-compensation, meaning that one got paid to write a review or write an article about something, usually in glowing terms.

If you want to ensure that people know you’re getting compensated for your recommendations, you could always say something like,

“order through my affiliate link here and I’ll send you my XY bonus”

since that always increases sales anyways, plus has added value of letting the consumer/buyer/ link clicker that an aff link = compensation for the recommendation.

Part 2 of the regs state that you have to reveal prior comepnsations such as getting freebies to test out which may also skew your review (who wants to bite the hand that fed them a freebie, right?).

So if you’re reviewing a product you got for free, for review purposes you should reveal that.

But again, that’s what good aff marketers who get freebies do, they tell stories, reveal their inner knowledge of products being reviewed, and they give bonuses via aff links purchases.

so if you say something like,

“Dan McGonagle just sent me a free review copy of his WhiteHat SEO guide and here’s my review on it. ___________________ I highly recommend Dan’s stuff and you should really get this guide if you want to _______________. Order it here through my affiliate link and I’ll send you a limited offer bonus worth XXX dollars.”

The above text reveals the nature of your compensation, you got something for free or were paid to read and review the product, plus at the end you reveal that you are an affiliate.

The only thing I see this affecting is the paid bloggers who all receive some sort of compensation for writing their reviews

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