PayPerPost: Bloggers Must Disclose

PayPerPost, a leader in the relatively new world of paid blogging, has changed their Terms of Service, and are now requiring bloggers who are paid to post disclose that fact to their readers. The disclosure may be a site-wide statement or can be listed on a per-post basis.

by Kristina Knight

Last week, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) rejected a complaint from Commercial Alert to regulate companies engaged in buzz-marketing practices.

Ted Murphy, chief executive officer of PayPerPost said in a statement, "Proper transparency for WOM marketing has been an ongoing balance for our members and an issue with little legal precedent. Although the FTC was petitioned and recently declined any formal action against buzz marketing practices we believe the marketers and bloggers in our marketplace will benefit from today's Terms of Service updates."

PayPerPost has been the center of the firestorm over whether bloggers should accept payment for endorsing or reviewing different products, and have encouraged blogger disclosure for a few months. They created DisclosurePolicy.org so that bloggers could create simple disclosure statements for their blogs.

Regardless of whether you like paid blogging, the trend is catching on. On Monday, WOM firm Umbria launched Umbria Connect – a service that allows companies to pay for URL lists of individual bloggers writing on popular subjects. By having a URL list, marketers can directly contact bloggers with whom they are interested in working.