Federal Trade Commission - Affiliate Requirements - PLEASE READ
United States, Federal Trade Commission, Rules And
Guidelines Regarding The Use Of Endorsements & Testimonials In Advertising.
This page should be read by every GreenGeeks affiliate. GreenGeeks requires
that each affiliate comply with the rules and guidelines expressed by the FTC
(Federal Trade Commission) and that failure to do so may result in removal from our affiliate program and cancellation of commissions. In December 2009 the FTC released guidelines which
require transparency by any affiliate who uses reviews, rankings or
testimonials to promote products or services which would disclose the fact to
website visitors that the affiliate is compensated for their reviews, rankings
or testimonials.
Please read the FTC's: Guides
Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
As an affiliate, how can you comply with the FTC's rules?
To comply with the FTC rules you should meet four basic requirements regarding
your disclosure to your website visitors that you may receive compensation for
your reviews, recommendations, rankings, etc.. Your disclosures should be
frequent, clear, conspicuous and require no additional scrolling or other type
of action (like hovering) to be able to see the disclosure.
The FTC advises that your disclosure should be on any page that has a review,
recommendation, comment or article that promotes any product or service for which you receive
an affiliate commission.
The FTC further advises that it should be clear to the
reader that as an affiliate you may receive compensation for your reviews,
recommendations, rankings, etc.
The disclosure should be in text which is at least as large
as the other text on your website page and should be in contrast with both the
background of the website page and with the other text on that page. So for
example if your website page background is white and your text is black, you
should use a dark color (other than and distinctive compared to Black Text)
like bright blue for your disclosure's text.
The disclosure should also start with the word
"Disclosure" and it should require no scrolling or any other type of
user action to have the disclosure be immediately evident to your website
visitor.
Example Disclosure: Disclosure: This website is
independently owned and operated. We are a professional review website which
receives compensation from the companies whose products and/or services we
review. We tested and reviewed the web hosting sites ranked here and the
opinions expressed here are our own.
If you have further questions regarding the FTC rules and
your website you should consult with a legal advisor AND you may learn more
from the FTC with their helpful guideline articles and information below:
Please Note: The information provided on this website page is intended as guidance only and is not intended as legal advice. Should you need more legal advice regarding how these rules pertain to your website you should seek a legal advisor.
We greatly appreciate our business
partnership and your compliance with the FTC rules.