Do you know the Guidelines for Internet MarketingPosted by Adcock Beier on May 10th, 2021 Since December 1st of 2009, the Federal Trade Commission of USA has launched some guidelines regarding ONLINE MARKETING that must be accompanied by every person who intends to market any goods or services through the web. 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 also to prevent pages from being indexed that display false testimonials or that are deceptive at all for the consumer. For example, you can no more 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 provide you with the necessary justification to create that statement. If you are promoting products or services that aren't yours, and that you have not tried yourself (which happens an enormous percentage of the time with affiliate marketing), you should know what the rules are for internet marketing. These guidelines now declare that you must declare the nature of your relationship with that product, this implies, that you have to say under the link or at the top of the page or another clear spot the type of your relationship with that product or service (you get a commission for each sale you make) and that you haven't used it personally. I know that this might sound like a huge sales killer, however, it isn't necessarily like that. Nowadays people are very familiar with the idea of web pages getting a commission each and every time someone purchases a product advertised on their site, and generally have no problem with that. Also, when a service or product declares it will achieve certain results, it isn't enough to place 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" 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've 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, to be able to see that they know what the guidelines are for internet marketing and that they are in line with them. Now, even though these rules are dependant on the Federal Trade Commission in USA, don't think that because you live in a different country they will not apply to you, because if the product or service you're advertising is purchased by someone in america and claims are raised, you may be liable. The main idea is, in case you are getting money from writing an assessment for certain product, for speaking about it or for selling it online, you need to clearly declare so, so the consumer knows your relationship with such service or product. In the case of very evident banner ads, it is not essential to declare your relationship with it since it established fact by everybody that such banners are ads don't really belong to the contents and thoughts of one's site and that you will get a commission if someone decides to buy something from clicking on that banner. The whole notion of making every internet marketer understand the guidelines for online marketing is to make things much more transparent for consumers. Now they know clearly whenever a review was compiled by self experience or if it's there because it is really a paid advertisement from the manufacturer, also to make the descriptions of results and top features of every product in probably the most realistic fashion. It is no longer permitted to say 'with product X I lost 50 pounds in a single month' if it has never happened that way, or if the weight loss was also achieved with a drastic lifestyle change like 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, so as 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 supply the consumer with better and much more accurate information, to allow them to 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 steps needed to create your websites 'Guidelines friendly', since the fines someone could get is often as high as ,000 so, much better to stay from that hit to the budget. เช็คพัสดุLike it? Share it! More by this author |