FTC Goes After More Transparency with Viral Marketing

According to the Washington Post, the Federal Trade Commission is looking to have more transparency in word-of-mouth campaigns.

“Word-of-mouth marketing can take any form of peer-to-peer communication, such as a post on a Web blog, a MySpace.com page for a movie character, or the comments of a stranger on a bus.

As the practice has taken hold over the past several years, however, some advocacy groups have questioned whether marketers are using such tactics to dupe consumers into believing they are getting unbiased information”

Consequences could range from a cease-and-desist order to fines and civil penalties ranging from thousands of dollars to millions of dollars, which is interesting if it actually happens. Will the FTC walk the walk after all this talk, especially in light of the recent flog from Sony and Zipatoni. I’m going to write about the Sony and Zipatoni situation on Friday, which gives me some more time to let the situation simmer internally. However, I have posted my initial thoughts in the comment of Mitch’s blog at Twist Image.