Moderator Jeremiah Owyang, Ted Murphy, Jennifer Leggio, Lisa Borodkin, and Wendy Piersall
While no one threw fists or chairs, it was evident from the #sponblog hashtag that sponsored blogging is a topic that people are passionate about, one way or another. Interestingly, when moderator Jeremiah Owyang asked for how many people approved of bloggers taking some type of compensation for a blog post, more than half the room raised their hand. Against it? Only 5 hands went up. And roughly 20 people signaled they were hoping to figure it out.
Lisa Borodkin, a lawyer from LA, offered some clarity about how the FTC rulings will affect sponsored blog posts. The basic message is that the FTC is clarifying the position of an endorsement, specifically positioning it in context of how it’s likely to be perceived by the readers. Six areas to consider when distinguishing a sponsorship:
- Whether a blogger is compensated
- Whether a good or service is provided for free
- Terms of an agreement
- Length of relationship
- Likelihood you will receive similar products from another sponsor
- Value of an endorsement
Lisa added that that the person giving the endorsement could be as liable as the advertiser in a sponsored post.
While this topic has come under intense scrutiny, Ted Murphy, CEO of IZEA, pointed out that public disclosures are one way that advertisers can be sure the guidelines they establish are being met by bloggers. [Note: Murphy was wearing an I[heart]FTC t-shirt.] While this feels a little altruistic to imply that that advertisers will crack down on bloggers who speak positively but don’t disclose, it does broaden the field to bring in more players. The FTC guidelines affect more than just bloggers. Favorably or unfavorably is still TBD.
When asked by @jowyang whether sponsored blogs hurt blogger credibility, Murphy pointed out that frequency is deeply related. If you have a lot of sponsored posts, readers like won’t come back too often. Do it once in a while, and make it relevant to readers, there’s less chance to hurt credibility. Murphy added “If you’re going to have a sponsored conversation – you can’t turn your comments off.”
This conversation won’t slow down soon – drop your passion (incendiary) comments below.
Filed under: blogworld
[...] me people asking the tough questions, demanding more out of the community, and tackling some very polarizing legal issues. People were almost unanimously friendly, but there were definitely some disagreements and [...]