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FAQWhy CMP.ly? - Frequently Asked Questions
Why CMP.ly?
CMP.ly disclosures follow a standard naming convention that is easy for readers to understand and can be used for disclosures in print, online, SMS, tweets or other digital communications.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently issued revised Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising to include blog posts, word of mouth campaigns and even twitter messages. These revised rules take effect on December 1, 2009 but, until now, there was no established structure or format for disclosures to follow and no simple way for advertisers to manage and monitor the disclosures for their campaigns.
Who Should CMP.ly?
Beginning 12/1/2009 bloggers, advertisers and their agencies need to disclose when they have marketing arrangements or other material connections. Review copies, samples, paid posts, affiliate links and paid posts are the most common examples. If you are reviewing or endorsing products and you are being given products or compensation relating to those posts, you must disclose those relationships. Our solution includes a free public disclosure engine that allows anyone to disclose based upon their specific situation.
Do I need to think about disclosures for my site/blog/tweets/affiliate marketing links?
Yes. If you are posting information or making endorsements of products or services you should think about what disclosures need to be included with your content. If there is a material connection that might influence your opinions, you need to disclose that connection. Common connections are paid posts, affiliate marketing links, review copies and product sampling programs. We have also included CMP.ly/0, which indicates to your audience that a particular post is solely based upon your own opinions.
Why should I use CMP.ly instead of other disclosure solutions?
CMP.ly addresses disclosure needs for bloggers and advertisers in a simple and standardized format. As your post gets syndicated, tweeted and re-tweeted, CMP.ly provides a solution that can follow your content and make it clear to your audience where material connections exist.
How can CMP.ly help me?
CMP.ly can provide a framework and solutions for disclosure. If you are a blogger, CMP.ly makes it easier for you to create clear disclosures and to work together with advertisers in a transparent manner to inform your readers of connections and to comply with disclosure requirements. If you are an advertiser, CMP.ly understands your challenges and has created a flexible framework to mange campaign disclosures and policies and to create an audit trail of your disclosures so that you can monitor your campaign disclosures and document your efforts.
What does the FTC require of advertisers with respect to endorsement and testimonial disclosures?
Advertisers are expected to:
1)Ensure that disclosures are included in their endorsement campaigns
2)Lead the discussion about disclosures with endorsers
3)Create a policy and demonstrate the use of their disclosure process in a particular campaign
4)Monitor disclosures for their campaigns on an ongoing basis
Why does CMP.ly send me full text disclosures along with my short URL disclosure?
CMP.ly understands that full text disclosure is not practical in all situations, in particular in microblogging environments such as Twitter. We will continue to provide shortened and coded systems to make it easier to inform readers of material connections. However, full text disclosures should still be used and prominently displayed along with your posts, where space permits. CMP.ly offers multiple solutions to help you comply with disclosure requirements in challenging environments and to make sure that your disclosures are still clear wherever your content is being read.
Do I need to include disclosures with every post or tweet that I write?
Yes, you should include disclosures within content that you create that is part of an endorsement campaign. Blanket site disclosures are good ways to make your disclosure policies clear to your readers, but the FTC has made it clear that disclosures should be clearly and prominently displayed with posts and not just in a single post or site disclosure that is not visible with your endorsement content.
Where can I find out more about the revised FTC guidelines?
www.ftc.gov provides information on the FTC and their policies.
Additional links are here:
Original announcement –
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm
The full text of the revised guidelines (81 pages) – www.ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005endorsementguidesfnnotice.pdf
WOMMA Ethics Review Blog- http://womma.org/ethicsreview/2009/11/27/womma-guide-to-social-media-disclosure-feedback-requested/
Marketing Roadmaps Articles
http://getgood.com/roadmaps/2009/11/16/once-more-with-feeling-ftc-guidelines-bloggers-and-companies/
http://getgood.com/roadmaps/2009/11/24/companies-obligations-under-ftc-endorsement-guidelines/
Please let us know if there are other resources that we should list for the community.
Will I be fined if I do not include a disclosure in my posts?
There has been a lot of talk about fines. In our discussions with the FTC and in public statements that they have made, they have clarified that there are no set fees for violations of these revised guidelines. The threat is not one of fines, but rather of warnings and then lawsuits brought against organizations that violate the guidelines.
What if I do not expect to collect any money or to be paid directly as a result of my content?
Material connections are not only related to cash payment for your posts. If you receive gifts, samples, affiliate payments or have a business relationship that needs to be disclosed then you are required to post a disclosure with your endorsement. Sometimes, it is also helpful to qualify that you do not have a material connection.
What if I receive a small gift, sample or affiliate fee as a result of my content?
The FTC does not view items of nominal value as different than items of significant value. It is their view that small items or payments, when they are added together, can add up. If you are participating in a marketing program, conducting reviews of samples or free products, or you are collecting fees for links or referrals, you should disclose that information to your readers clearly and conspicuously.
Why are advertisers asking me to disclose?
Advertisers are responsible for leading the conversation about disclosures in their campaigns and the FTC will be holding them responsible for ensuring that disclosures are being included with endorsements for their products. CMP.ly has been set up to make it easier for advertisers and bloggers to work together and to comply with these new requirements.
Why are advertisers NOT asking me to disclose?
These new revisions took effect on December 1, 2009. There is still a lot of confusion about disclosures and many advertisers have not yet instituted their new disclosure policies. We expect this to change in the coming months and for responsible advertisers to require disclosures as part of their campaigns.
What should I do if your standard disclosures do not address my specific situation?
We have created our unique disclosures for this very reason. You may add notes to an existing standard disclosure, or you may create a CMP.ly/5 custom disclosure using any language that you wish to include in your disclosure.
How do I use CMP.ly standard disclosures?
Our standard disclosures may be used for the most common scenarios. In a Tweet or microblog, you may indicate a disclosure by using our standard codes (CMP.ly/0 – Opinion, CMP.ly/1 – Review, CMP.ly/2 – Sample, CMP.ly/3 – Paid , CMP.ly/4 – Business or CMP.ly/5 – Affiliate). For longer form posts, it is recommended that you post both the CMP.ly short URL and the text disclosure that accompanies it.
Why should I use CMP.ly unique disclosures?
Unique disclosures allow you to manage multiple disclosures, to add notes/additional information, to identify yourself along with your disclosures and to monitor and track your disclosures as they get syndicated and reposted across the web. Please note that unique and custom CMP.ly disclosures require you to set up a CMP.ly user account.
Can I just post a site-wide disclosure?
Blanket site disclosures are good ways to make your disclosure policies clear to your readers, but the FTC has made it clear that disclosures should be clearly and prominently displayed with posts and not just in a single post or site disclosure that is not visible with your endorsement content.
Can I use CMP.ly as a solution for my site-wide disclosure?
Yes, you can use CMP.ly to create your site-wide disclosure and then use our CMP.ly links to easily identify disclosures for your individual posts.
Does CMP.ly offer or support visual display badges for disclosures?
At this time we do not support the use of visual display badges for disclosures. We are developing a technology solution that will allow us to provide display badges that meet our requirements
CMP.ly disclosures follow a standard naming convention that is easy for readers to understand and can be used for disclosures in print, online, SMS, tweets or other digital communications.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently issued revised Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising to include blog posts, word of mouth campaigns and even twitter messages. These revised rules take effect on December 1, 2009 but, until now, there was no established structure or format for disclosures to follow and no simple way for advertisers to manage and monitor the disclosures for their campaigns.
Who Should CMP.ly?
Beginning 12/1/2009 bloggers, advertisers and their agencies need to disclose when they have marketing arrangements or other material connections. Review copies, samples, paid posts, affiliate links and paid posts are the most common examples. If you are reviewing or endorsing products and you are being given products or compensation relating to those posts, you must disclose those relationships. Our solution includes a free public disclosure engine that allows anyone to disclose based upon their specific situation.
Do I need to think about disclosures for my site/blog/tweets/affiliate marketing links?
Yes. If you are posting information or making endorsements of products or services you should think about what disclosures need to be included with your content. If there is a material connection that might influence your opinions, you need to disclose that connection. Common connections are paid posts, affiliate marketing links, review copies and product sampling programs. We have also included CMP.ly/0, which indicates to your audience that a particular post is solely based upon your own opinions.
Why should I use CMP.ly instead of other disclosure solutions?
CMP.ly addresses disclosure needs for bloggers and advertisers in a simple and standardized format. As your post gets syndicated, tweeted and re-tweeted, CMP.ly provides a solution that can follow your content and make it clear to your audience where material connections exist.
How can CMP.ly help me?
CMP.ly can provide a framework and solutions for disclosure. If you are a blogger, CMP.ly makes it easier for you to create clear disclosures and to work together with advertisers in a transparent manner to inform your readers of connections and to comply with disclosure requirements. If you are an advertiser, CMP.ly understands your challenges and has created a flexible framework to mange campaign disclosures and policies and to create an audit trail of your disclosures so that you can monitor your campaign disclosures and document your efforts.
What does the FTC require of advertisers with respect to endorsement and testimonial disclosures?
Advertisers are expected to:
1)Ensure that disclosures are included in their endorsement campaigns
2)Lead the discussion about disclosures with endorsers
3)Create a policy and demonstrate the use of their disclosure process in a particular campaign
4)Monitor disclosures for their campaigns on an ongoing basis
Why does CMP.ly send me full text disclosures along with my short URL disclosure?
CMP.ly understands that full text disclosure is not practical in all situations, in particular in microblogging environments such as Twitter. We will continue to provide shortened and coded systems to make it easier to inform readers of material connections. However, full text disclosures should still be used and prominently displayed along with your posts, where space permits. CMP.ly offers multiple solutions to help you comply with disclosure requirements in challenging environments and to make sure that your disclosures are still clear wherever your content is being read.
Do I need to include disclosures with every post or tweet that I write?
Yes, you should include disclosures within content that you create that is part of an endorsement campaign. Blanket site disclosures are good ways to make your disclosure policies clear to your readers, but the FTC has made it clear that disclosures should be clearly and prominently displayed with posts and not just in a single post or site disclosure that is not visible with your endorsement content.
Where can I find out more about the revised FTC guidelines?
www.ftc.gov provides information on the FTC and their policies.
Additional links are here:
Original announcement –
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm
The full text of the revised guidelines (81 pages) – www.ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005endorsementguidesfnnotice.pdf
WOMMA Ethics Review Blog- http://womma.org/ethicsreview/2009/11/27/womma-guide-to-social-media-disclosure-feedback-requested/
Marketing Roadmaps Articles
http://getgood.com/roadmaps/2009/11/16/once-more-with-feeling-ftc-guidelines-bloggers-and-companies/
http://getgood.com/roadmaps/2009/11/24/companies-obligations-under-ftc-endorsement-guidelines/
Please let us know if there are other resources that we should list for the community.
Will I be fined if I do not include a disclosure in my posts?
There has been a lot of talk about fines. In our discussions with the FTC and in public statements that they have made, they have clarified that there are no set fees for violations of these revised guidelines. The threat is not one of fines, but rather of warnings and then lawsuits brought against organizations that violate the guidelines.
What if I do not expect to collect any money or to be paid directly as a result of my content?
Material connections are not only related to cash payment for your posts. If you receive gifts, samples, affiliate payments or have a business relationship that needs to be disclosed then you are required to post a disclosure with your endorsement. Sometimes, it is also helpful to qualify that you do not have a material connection.
What if I receive a small gift, sample or affiliate fee as a result of my content?
The FTC does not view items of nominal value as different than items of significant value. It is their view that small items or payments, when they are added together, can add up. If you are participating in a marketing program, conducting reviews of samples or free products, or you are collecting fees for links or referrals, you should disclose that information to your readers clearly and conspicuously.
Why are advertisers asking me to disclose?
Advertisers are responsible for leading the conversation about disclosures in their campaigns and the FTC will be holding them responsible for ensuring that disclosures are being included with endorsements for their products. CMP.ly has been set up to make it easier for advertisers and bloggers to work together and to comply with these new requirements.
Why are advertisers NOT asking me to disclose?
These new revisions took effect on December 1, 2009. There is still a lot of confusion about disclosures and many advertisers have not yet instituted their new disclosure policies. We expect this to change in the coming months and for responsible advertisers to require disclosures as part of their campaigns.
What should I do if your standard disclosures do not address my specific situation?
We have created our unique disclosures for this very reason. You may add notes to an existing standard disclosure, or you may create a CMP.ly/5 custom disclosure using any language that you wish to include in your disclosure.
How do I use CMP.ly standard disclosures?
Our standard disclosures may be used for the most common scenarios. In a Tweet or microblog, you may indicate a disclosure by using our standard codes (CMP.ly/0 – Opinion, CMP.ly/1 – Review, CMP.ly/2 – Sample, CMP.ly/3 – Paid , CMP.ly/4 – Business or CMP.ly/5 – Affiliate). For longer form posts, it is recommended that you post both the CMP.ly short URL and the text disclosure that accompanies it.
Why should I use CMP.ly unique disclosures?
Unique disclosures allow you to manage multiple disclosures, to add notes/additional information, to identify yourself along with your disclosures and to monitor and track your disclosures as they get syndicated and reposted across the web. Please note that unique and custom CMP.ly disclosures require you to set up a CMP.ly user account.
Can I just post a site-wide disclosure?
Blanket site disclosures are good ways to make your disclosure policies clear to your readers, but the FTC has made it clear that disclosures should be clearly and prominently displayed with posts and not just in a single post or site disclosure that is not visible with your endorsement content.
Can I use CMP.ly as a solution for my site-wide disclosure?
Yes, you can use CMP.ly to create your site-wide disclosure and then use our CMP.ly links to easily identify disclosures for your individual posts.
Does CMP.ly offer or support visual display badges for disclosures?
At this time we do not support the use of visual display badges for disclosures. We are developing a technology solution that will allow us to provide display badges that meet our requirements
CMP.ly Standard Disclosures
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