On June 29, 2023, the FTC issued an updated version of its Endorsement Guides, which provide agency guidance to businesses and others to ensure that advertising using reviews or endorsements is truthful. The revised Guides include additional changes not incorporated in the proposed revisions published for public comment on July 26, 2022.
The Endorsement Guides advise businesses on what practices may be unfair or deceptive in violation of the FTC Act. In 2022, the FTC sought public comments on proposed updates to the Guides to address the ways advertisers now reach consumers to promote products and services.
A number of revisions have been made to the final revised Guides based on public comments received, including:
Articulating a new principle regarding procuring, suppressing, boosting, organizing, publishing, upvoting, downvoting, or editing consumer reviews so as to distort what consumers think of a product;
Addressing incentivized reviews, reviews by employees, and fake negative reviews of a competitor;
Adding a definition of “clear and conspicuous” and saying that a platform’s built-in disclosure tool might not be an adequate disclosure;
Changing the definition of “endorsements” to clarify the extent to which it includes fake reviews, virtual influencers, and tags in social media;
Better explaining the potential liability of advertisers, endorsers, and intermediaries; and
Highlighting that child-directed advertising is of special concern.
In addition, the FTC has issued updated FAQs about the Endorsement Guides.
Read the FTC’s announcement here.
The Final Rule can be found here.
The updated FAQs can be found here.