FTC Issues Finalized Ad Endorsement Guides

The FTC issued final revised advertising guidelines Thursday to ensure companies’ product reviews and endorsements are “truthful.” The agency solicited comment in May 2022 on the guidelines (see 2209270065), which advise businesses on what’s unfair or deceptive. The guidelines were last updated in 2009. The commission voted 3-0 to approve publication of the revised guides. Revisions include new principles for ad distortion when companies boost or suppress content; guidelines for incentivized reviews and fake negative reviews of competitor products; a new definition for “clear and conspicuous"; clarification that a “platform’s built-in disclosure tool might not be an adequate disclosure"; clarified definitions for fake reviews and virtual influencers; clarification for liability of advertisers, endorsers and intermediaries; and emphasis that “child-directed advertising is of special concern.”