Norm Morrison Aug 19, 2024 10:31:48 AM 4 min read

The FTC Steps In...Finally

We've posted a number of times about the issues of fake review and affiliate sites. Of how badly they've polluted the industry. We caught major magazines that people trust getting paid off in affiliate commissions. There are a number of youtube channels that are the same thing, paid reviewers.
 
It had gotten really bad. It was literally at a point that legitimate, high quality manufacturers and their dealers were at a major disadvantage because of the way poor quality manufacturers could pay hundreds of fake review sites, if not thousands, to write glowing reviews of their crappy products.   I've had to tell people to go to Reddit, for God's sake, as the only place, in the whole internet, that they could find real people talking about equipment.
Well, except for my blog.
 
Well, I guess the Federal trade commission actually listened. Or maybe it had just got into that point of ridiculousness. 
logo_ftc
 
This new guidance makes it illegal to purchase reviews, or to pay people for reviews, and that would mean in commissions. End of story.
Also, the new rules stress the illigitimacy of of companies knowingly allowing people with no experience with their products to purport such expertise. 
 
This is nothing less than government at its best, protecting honest businesses and honest manufacturers from a whole deceptive marketing ecosystem. They have just upended the whole fake review marketing industry.


“Fake reviews not only waste people’s time and money, but also pollute the marketplace and divert business away from honest competitors,” said FTC Chair Lina M. Khan. “By strengthening the FTC’s toolkit to fight deceptive advertising, the final rule will protect Americans from getting cheated, put businesses that unlawfully game the system on notice, and promote markets that are fair, honest, and competitive.”

From Here.  And I will tell you that this is decades too late, but also just in time.

A deeper dive into the exacts are here.


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Norm Morrison

Norm has a long history of building partnerships between Health and Wellness companies and meshing technology creators with manufacturers and vendors. He helped build the largest fitness equipment dealership from the ground up and has worked with nearly all of the major manufacturers in the industry. The top brands in the market come to him for advice about developing and improving their product. Norm has helped dozens of companies bring products to market and has an inside track on what’s new and what’s next in both the legacy and connected fitness industries.

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