Perfect Balance: An Advertising Law Podcast
Episode 25: Examining the FTC’s Final Updates to the Endorsement Guides: What Marketers Need to Know – Part 2 of 2
Sep 8, 2023
Part 2 of Perfect Balance podcast explores the FTC's concerns with consumer reviews, guidelines for soliciting reviews ethically, the FTC's proposed rule on deceptive practices in product reviews, and tips for brands on presenting consumer reviews without resorting to deceptive practices.
20:57
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Quick takeaways
- The updated FTC Endorsement Guides now address deceptive practices in consumer reviews, such as manipulating or editing reviews, deleting negative reviews, and featuring only favorable reviews.
- Advertisers should use consumer reviews in a transparent and non-deceptive manner, avoiding practices like sorting reviews by favorability ratings and labeling retailer-selected reviews as most helpful, while maintaining uniform application of filters for lawful and appropriate content.
Deep dives
Deceptive Consumer Review Practices
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has updated its endorsement guides to include a new section on consumer reviews. In previous versions of the guides, the FTC focused on appropriate disclosure of material connections between reviewers and products. However, the updated guides now address deceptive practices, such as manipulating or editing consumer reviews to distort or misrepresent what consumers think of products. These practices include sorting reviews by favorability rating, deleting negative reviews, featuring only favorable reviews on third-party sites, and threatening reviewers. This expansion of guidance aims to prevent advertisers from using consumer reviews in misleading or deceptive ways.
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