The FTC and           
   Truth-in-Advertising Laws

                                 - Charles Brown                                           

All too often, the words “honesty” and “internet marketing” are two mutually
exclusive terms; as if one cannot exist with the other.

Oh c’mon, don’t even try to pretend I’m not correct here.  Because, evidently,
there’s an unwritten and unspoken agreement amongst all internet marketers
that it is “o.k.” to lie and lie repeatedly in ad copy.

“But Charles, aren’t you being just a little harsh?  Good ad copy has to have
some degree of hype.”

Yes, I agree.  I rest my case.

“A half truth is a whole lie.”  -Yiddish proverb

Alright, I'm not trying to pitch myself as Father Teresa here, but it's just what I've
observed.  And if you read "The Internet Marketing Money-Suck Vortex From Hell"
like you should have, you'd know that it's not all marketers that lie in their ad copy. 
But so many do that it's as commonplace as spam.

You see, the internet is not bound to the same truth-in-advertising laws that the
“real” world is.  Well, supposedly it is, but the reality is that there are just too many
websites and web pages for the FTC to keep up with. 

By the way, the FTC stands for "Federal Trade Commission" if you didn't already
know.  They're the Feds responsible for ensuring your online ad is "...truthful and
not misleading" and "Advertisers must have evidence to back up their claims."

I actually went to the trouble of reading a lot of the horribly boring info on the FTC
site.  (With the help of a frosty, cool beverage.) 
I found that the parts covering online advertising were pretty vague.  Not only
that, but I saw NOTHING about digital products; Anything to do with online
advertising addressed physical products only.  Like safety, guarantees,"fitness for
a particular purpose," etc.

Observe the following snippets cut ‘n pasted from the FTC’s “Dot Com Disclosures”
website:

          "Although the number of companies advertising online—and
          the number of consumers shopping online—are soaring,
          fraud and deception may dampen consumer confidence in
          the e-marketplace. But cyberspace is not without boundaries,
          and fraud and deception are unlawful no matter what the
          medium. The FTC has enforced and will continue enforcing its
          consumer protection laws online to ensure that products and
          services are described truthfully in online ads and that
          consumers get what they pay for."

           "Indeed, since 1994, the Commission has brought over
          100 law enforcement actions to stop fraud and deception
           online and is working to educate businesses about their
           legal obligations and consumers about their rights."

Whoa!  100 law enforcement actions?!  They've got me shaking in my worn-out 
beach sandals!  Think, for just a moment of the gazillions of websites and squeeze
pages that have been online since 1994...only 100 of 'em have been nailed. 

And I'm willing to bet that all 100 were as a result of complaints.  Complaints of 
stuff sold thru brick 'n mortar businesses.  You can be sure those 100 were doing
something drastically wrong to actually get law enforcement action.  Murder-for-hire
bad.

Besides, the FTC is too busy not doing other things, such as not enforcing the
U.S. National Do Not Call Registry...

If you're still getting calls all day, click on this link and you'll see why...
The United States National Do Not Call Registry
and scroll down a little 'til you see "Exceptions to the do not call rule."

(The "Exceptions" provide more loopholes than you'd think.)

Anyway, what are the chances my pages and your pages will be scrutinized by
some FTC over-watch guy?  Slim, very slim indeed and that’s a good thing :-) 

No, there's not one soul worried about the FTC scrutinizing their site;  Google's
bots, on the other hand, are another thing entirely!