On March 12, 2013, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued an important update to its “Dot Com Disclosures” guide to advertisers on making effective online disclosures. In doing so, the FTC has driven home the points that:
- The consumer protection laws apply to all advertisers, regardless of the medium used—and including social media, even where there is limited space;
- Disclosures required to avoid deception or to otherwise comply with the law must be presented in a clear and conspicuous manner;
- Advertisers need to understand how their ads—including any disclosures required to avoid deception or to otherwise comply with the law—will actually display in the medium or media in which they appear; and
- If an advertiser cannot make a required disclosure effectively in a particular medium, then it should not run the ad in that medium.
The FTC issued the original Dot Com Disclosures in 2000, and the recent revision provides guidance with respect to technologies that have emerged since then. Although the fundamental rules have not changed, the guidance provides useful information on how the FTC believes advertisers should comply with the law when making claims in various media.