There’s a ton of money to be made in native advertising. In fact, it’s the most profitable and growing form of advertising. It’s also fundamentally deceptive and dishonest. The definition of native advertising is “making your ads look like some other editorial content” — so people click on them, not knowing that they are ads. […]
Social Media Ethics Alert
April 7, 2014
Actually, there’s no ethics alert. Nothing in social media ethics should be news to you. In 1914 Woodrow Wilson signed the Truth in Advertising rules that gave the FTC the authority to protect against “Unfair and Deceptive” practices. Since then, they’ve seen the rise of every new marketing practices: TV, direct mail, multi-level-marketing, infomercials, and […]
FTC busts ADT for using bloggers to lie to you. The punishment is excellent.
March 14, 2014
The FTC announced on Thursday that it has caught ADT paying bloggers for endorsements (on blogs as well as national TV/radio) and not disclosing it. Folks, the rules and the law on social media ethics are clear, as I’ve been sharing for years. More here. In addition to ending the program, ADT will now be […]
Ethical disclosure is ridiculously easy — learn how
August 18, 2013
We’re required to disclose any form of compensation when writing a blog post, which has led to all sorts of stresses, excuses, legal discussion, and bloviating by bloggers. It’s really easy to do proper, simple, legally-compliant disclosure: Just write a sentence at the start of each post explaining your relationship to whomever is compensating you […]
You shouldn’t be surprised about the FTC rules
May 22, 2013
Greg Gerik wrote an insightful post about one of my presentations on the importance of the FTC’s disclosure requirements. Read it here. He makes a great point: If you do not know the rules, you should not play the game. The time to learn how to … properly manage a sponsored campaign is not when […]
4 key groups to train on word of mouth ethics
May 14, 2013
This is a post from our WordofMouth.org project. Check it out for more great word of mouth marketing tips like this every day. Nobody is going to put their reputation on the line to recommend you if they have any questions about your trustworthiness. It takes a long, long time to build this level of trust — […]
The most honest site on the Internet
March 30, 2013
Most sites you visit are tracking you, and most are selling your data to advertisers. Are they honest enough to tell you, or are they burying it in the fine print? AllThingsD continues to impress as the most honest site on the net. You get this disclosure the first time you visit:
The most honorable reporters on the Internet
November 10, 2012
Every reporter at WSJ spin-off All Things D has a clear ethics statement next to their byline. They share their financial interests and anything else that might bias their coverage. Read all their ethics statements here. I’m deeply impressed with this team and challenge every other reporter to rise to the same standards. Kudos and respect […]
Newsletter #890: The “Honest, Transparent, and Straightforward” Issue
June 21, 2012
[Welcome back to the Damn, I Wish I’d Thought of That! newsletter. This is text of the great issue all of our email subscribers just received. Sign yourself up using the handy form on the right.] Companies with loyal fans and incredible word of mouth get there by being trustworthy — and they build on it every […]
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