What Are the Guidelines for Internet Marketing?
Since December 1st of 2009, the Federal Trade Commission of United States has launched some guidelines regarding Internet Marketing that must be followed by every person who intends to market any goods or services through the internet.
So, if you're interested in knowing what are the guidelines for Internet Marketing and how they apply to you, continue reading.
Basically, what the guidelines are trying to do is to make the online content more transparent for the consumers and to prevent pages from being indexed that display false testimonials or that are deceptive in any way for the consumer.
For example, you can no longer declare in any of your websites that "this product works wonders for ___" unless you have actually tried it, or that such the statement is based upon real and known evidence that can give you the necessary justification to make that statement.
If you are promoting products or services that are not yours, and that you have not tried yourself (which happens a huge percentage of the time with affiliate marketing), you have to know what the guidelines are for internet marketing.
These guidelines now state that you must declare the nature of your relationship with that product, this means, that you have to say under the link or on the top of the page or another clear spot the nature of your relationship with that product or service (that you receive a commission for each sale you make) and that you have not used it personally.
I know that this might sound like a huge sales killer, however, it is not necessarily like that.
Nowadays people are very familiar with the concept of web pages getting a commission every time someone purchases a product advertised on their site, and generally have no problem with that.
Also, when a product or service declares it will achieve certain results, it is not enough to put any note such as "These results were achieved by a few users and you are not likely to achieve the same results" or "Results not typical" in order to make the advertisement stop looking deceptive.
The advertisement must include the results obtained by average consumers, which are documented and the reviews must be from real consumers who have used the product and that are not receiving any benefit from giving a favorable review.
It is also a good idea that you check the pages your website links to, in order to see that they know what the guidelines are for internet marketing and that they are in line with them.
Now, even when these rules are determined by the Federal Trade Commission in United States, don't think that because you live in a different country they will not apply to you, because if the product or service you are advertising is purchased by someone in the United States and claims are raised, you will be liable.
The main idea is, if you are getting money from writing a review for certain product, for speaking about it or for selling it online, you must clearly declare so, so the consumer is aware of your relationship with such product or service.
In the case of very evident banner ads, it is not necessary to declare your relationship with it because it is well known by everybody that such banners are ads don't really belong to the contents and thoughts of your site and that you will receive a commission if someone makes a purchase from clicking on that banner.
The whole idea of making every internet marketer understand the guidelines for internet marketing is to make things a lot more transparent for consumers.
Now they know clearly when a review was written by self experience or if it is there because it is a paid advertisement from the manufacturer, and to make the descriptions of results and features of every product in the most realistic fashion.
It is no longer allowed to say 'with product X I lost 50 pounds in one month' if it has never happened that way, or if the weight loss was also achieved with a drastic lifestyle change such as a strict diet and 3 hours of daily exercise in a gym, along with taking product X.
The real conditions under which any result were obtained must be clearly declared, in order to prevent users from buying something that promises certain results that will not be achieved.
The Internet is a vast playground, therefore it is difficult to assure a 'fair game' on every spot of it, however, hopefully these efforts will help provide the consumer with better and more accurate information, so they can make better choices when purchasing a good or service.
And as final thought, it is really important to know what are the Guidelines for Internet Marketing, and it's best to take the necessary steps to make your websites 'Guidelines friendly', since the fines someone could get can be as high as $11,000 so, much better to stay away from that hit to the pocket book.
So, if you're interested in knowing what are the guidelines for Internet Marketing and how they apply to you, continue reading.
Basically, what the guidelines are trying to do is to make the online content more transparent for the consumers and to prevent pages from being indexed that display false testimonials or that are deceptive in any way for the consumer.
For example, you can no longer declare in any of your websites that "this product works wonders for ___" unless you have actually tried it, or that such the statement is based upon real and known evidence that can give you the necessary justification to make that statement.
If you are promoting products or services that are not yours, and that you have not tried yourself (which happens a huge percentage of the time with affiliate marketing), you have to know what the guidelines are for internet marketing.
These guidelines now state that you must declare the nature of your relationship with that product, this means, that you have to say under the link or on the top of the page or another clear spot the nature of your relationship with that product or service (that you receive a commission for each sale you make) and that you have not used it personally.
I know that this might sound like a huge sales killer, however, it is not necessarily like that.
Nowadays people are very familiar with the concept of web pages getting a commission every time someone purchases a product advertised on their site, and generally have no problem with that.
Also, when a product or service declares it will achieve certain results, it is not enough to put any note such as "These results were achieved by a few users and you are not likely to achieve the same results" or "Results not typical" in order to make the advertisement stop looking deceptive.
The advertisement must include the results obtained by average consumers, which are documented and the reviews must be from real consumers who have used the product and that are not receiving any benefit from giving a favorable review.
It is also a good idea that you check the pages your website links to, in order to see that they know what the guidelines are for internet marketing and that they are in line with them.
Now, even when these rules are determined by the Federal Trade Commission in United States, don't think that because you live in a different country they will not apply to you, because if the product or service you are advertising is purchased by someone in the United States and claims are raised, you will be liable.
The main idea is, if you are getting money from writing a review for certain product, for speaking about it or for selling it online, you must clearly declare so, so the consumer is aware of your relationship with such product or service.
In the case of very evident banner ads, it is not necessary to declare your relationship with it because it is well known by everybody that such banners are ads don't really belong to the contents and thoughts of your site and that you will receive a commission if someone makes a purchase from clicking on that banner.
The whole idea of making every internet marketer understand the guidelines for internet marketing is to make things a lot more transparent for consumers.
Now they know clearly when a review was written by self experience or if it is there because it is a paid advertisement from the manufacturer, and to make the descriptions of results and features of every product in the most realistic fashion.
It is no longer allowed to say 'with product X I lost 50 pounds in one month' if it has never happened that way, or if the weight loss was also achieved with a drastic lifestyle change such as a strict diet and 3 hours of daily exercise in a gym, along with taking product X.
The real conditions under which any result were obtained must be clearly declared, in order to prevent users from buying something that promises certain results that will not be achieved.
The Internet is a vast playground, therefore it is difficult to assure a 'fair game' on every spot of it, however, hopefully these efforts will help provide the consumer with better and more accurate information, so they can make better choices when purchasing a good or service.
And as final thought, it is really important to know what are the Guidelines for Internet Marketing, and it's best to take the necessary steps to make your websites 'Guidelines friendly', since the fines someone could get can be as high as $11,000 so, much better to stay away from that hit to the pocket book.
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