That means any blog that reviews products — whether it is padded by corporations or not — is subject to a thorough examination. While penalties for failure to disclose financial interest have existed in the past, the FTC is broadening the scope of the media it is actively reviewing to cover blogs and bloggers. Professional journalists and product reviewers are beholden to their employers and professional ethics policies, often have to return review products after the review is published. Nonprofessional product review blogs should maintain the integrity of an Internet community where average citizens can freely share ideas without the threat of being swindled by a massive corporation. It also means that if you review products on your personal blog, there’s a good chance that blog will be read by government suits. read more

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