IZEA, of PayPerPost fame, was one company who was forced to pay special attention to these guidelines, simply due to the nature of its business. CEO Ted Murphy seems pretty happy with the whole thing though. 

"It’s been a great thing for the industry," he tells WebProNews. "What the FTC guidelines really did was gave everybody a standardized rulebook to play by. So whether you’re giving people free TVs or hamburgers or you’re compensating them with cash, all marketers are required to do the same types of things in terms of disclosure and transparency."

"I think that’s a great thing, and we follow the – we call it social media sponsorship – kind of that whole space, whether it be cash or product, and it’s just exploding," he says. "I mean…everybody’s just trying to figure out how do they get their piece. I think now that the legal aspects – now that we have some clarification on that – now we can all charge forward and deliver great campaigns for advertisers, and help people that are doing social media finally make some money."

You may have noticed that disclosure, or at least more obvious disclosure seems to be much more prevalent on blogs these days. Though certainly the lack of disclosure will be less obvious anyway. Still, the guidelines would appear to have sunk in with many. 

"I think from the advertisers’ standpoint, they don’t want to get hit by some judgment from the FTC, and if their competitors see them doing things that aren’t on the up and up, you probably run the risk of being reported, so I think that it’s really the advertisers are driving awareness of that."

"But at the same time," Murphy adds. "We did a study just last quarter, and over sixty percent of marketers – people that are PR professionals – have never read the FTC guidelines. So there’s still a lot of room to grow there."

"But we’re getting there," he concludes. "You know, we had to get the rules out, and now it’s all about education."

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Social media isn’t always as social as its name would imply. For example, you can have conversations with people online and really not know them at all personally. 

How many of your professional social media friends do you actually know personally? Comment here.

It’s possible that you’ve had a really deep and meaningful conversation on Twitter or Facebook with someone in your niche that you greatly respect, but if you passed them on the street you wouldn’t even recognize them, let alone stop and chat. 

WebProNews spoke with IZEA CEO Ted Murphy recently about how sometimes, it just helps to pull back from the social media and really get social. It also helps to pull back if you want to create original content. That doesn’t mean stop using social media. It means don’t be strapped down by it. 

"The Blogosphere and social media have become a bit of an echo chamber," says Murphy. "The likes and the shares and the retweets and all that stuff – it’s great for spreading a message, but it’s like everybody now becomes programmed in the same way, doing the same thing." 

"So if we can teach people to pull back from that and say, ‘Ok, if I want to come up with a really original blog…a really original idea, I don’t want to know about all that other stuff. I need to unplug myself, and I need to just ideate,’" he adds. 

In other words, get out there in the world and experience things first hand, and maybe you can find some inspiration for original content. Then, maybe the echo chamber will echo you, instead of vice versa. What are some problems, concerns, issues, or observations you’ve made running your own business? What are some you’ve seen with other businesses? Maybe you can use these things to bring something new to the table, or at least start a fresh conversation. 

Even simply talking to the same kinds of people you would be conversing with online, in an offline setting can spark inspiration that may not have occurred from a conversation on Twitter or Facebook. Industry conferences are obviously a great place to meet people and to meet people that you have already had a professional relationship with online.  Great ideas can come from these conversations, and they’re not online for the world to see (and echo) yet, so you can take those with you and create that content.

Chances are that if a subject was worth talking about offline, it was probably worth talking about online as well (as long as its topical). 

"The reason that we come to conferences…is that it’s one thing to engage with somebody through Twitter or to do a chat with them or leave a comment on their blog," says Murphy. "It’s another thing to shake their hand and look them in the eye and share a beer with them."

"So I think the people that are going to get the most out of an experience like this are the people that spend the entire time trying to meet as many people as they possibly can, and not just coming here and staying with the people that you came here with," he says. 

"You should be coming home with stacks of…not just business cards and contacts, but experiences with those people," he adds. 

You don’t have to limit offline professional socializing to conferences though. You can do lunches or arrange other get-togethers. Don’t forget "tweetups". 

What are some other ways to create professional relationships offline that you’ve found value in? Share in the comments. 

The IAB says the rules unfairly and unconstitutionally impose penalties on online media for practices in which offline media have engaged for decades. In an open letter to FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz, Randall Rothenberg, the President and CEO of the IAB, called the FTC’s distinction between offline media and online media, "constitutionally dubious."

"What concerns us the most in these revisions is that the Internet, the cheapest, most widely accessible communications medium ever invented, would have less freedom than other media," he said. "These revisions are punitive to the online world and unfairly distinquish between the same speech, based on the medium in which it is delivered. The practices have long been afforded strong First Amendment protections in traditional media outlets, but the Commission is saying that the same speech deserves fewer Constitutional protections online. I urge the Commission to retract the current set of Guides and to commence a fair and open process in order to develop a roadmap by which responsible online actors can engage with consumers and continue to provide the invaluable content and services that have so transformed people’s lives."

Rothenberg’s letter can be read here in its entirety. The FTC’s guidelines are set to go into effect at the beginning of December.

WebProNews attended a keynote at the BlogWorld Expo this week, which dealt with the FTC’s forthcoming regulations. Among the speakers were Ted Murphy, CEO of the controversial IZEA, the company known for PayPerPost and sponsored tweeting, Wendy Piersall of Sparkplugging.com, Jennifer Leggio, a blogger for ZDNet and Lisa Rotkin, an attorney from LA. Interestingly, about 60% of people in the room were for sponsored tweets, with very few indicating that they were against it.

Rotkin says the guidelines clarify the definition of endorsement, and that the FTC believes it has to be authenticated. She says that the blogger is as much liable as the advertiser, although recent comments from the FTC indicate that they are more concerned with the advertisers. She notes that bloggers would have to disclose relationships, but points out that there’s a gray area in how to disclose.

There are also gray areas in what is actually considered to be a sponsored post. In the session, it was said that there are 8 forms:

1. Access
2. Incentive
3. Thank you
4. Product demo
5. Advertorial
6. Paid Reviews
7. Junket
8. Payola

Rotkin says that sponsored posts aren’t right for everyone, but in some cases they are appropriate. However, she believes that bloggers aren’t looking at the long term.

Piersall says that people are able to disclose very well, and there are consequences if they do it wrong. She notes that she has no control over people’s perceptions, whether she is being sponsored or not.

Murphy, who was wearing a shirt that said "I heart the FTC" said his company has been under a lot of attack because they monetize people.

Leggio says being a popular social media/blogger person is different than being a celebrity. She says sponsored blogging doesn’t help relationships. "Do you want a spokesmodel or a thought leader?" she asked.

The character limit of Twitter is a subject that is often brought up in the FTC regulations discussion. How do you disclose on Twitter? Jeremiah Owyang, who moderated the session, doesn’t think a hashtag like #ad is enough. Murphy thinks having "tools for disclosure" is the only way. It’s unclear what these tools are exactly.

WebProNews reporter Abby Johnson contributed to this report from BlogWorld.

Do you think paid tweeting is a good idea? Share your thoughts.

On the Facebook blog, the company said it was altering the document, but leaving it open for feedback and user governance. The company writes:

Today, we are proposing some updates to the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities (SRR), which governs our relationship with users and others who interact with us and replaced our Terms of Use earlier this year. Occasionally, we need to make updates to the SRR in order to account for new features and policies or just to make things more clear. As members of the Facebook community, we want you to be involved in the site’s governance. That’s why we’re committed to giving you the opportunity to review and comment on changes before they go into effect.

The proposed SRR we’re announcing today mostly includes clarifying changes and minor updates. We encourage you to read the revised SRR in its entirety on the Facebook Site Governance Page, where you can review the changes and give us your comments. Please take a look and provide your feedback before 10:00 a.m. PDT on August 18.

The first point under the safety section of the document reads:

You will not send or otherwise post unauthorized commercial communications to users (such as spam).

Disclaimer: The Above image is not a real sponsored update.

It is not surprising that such a rule would be implemented. In fact, it would not be surprising to see Twitter follow suit, especially with the recent attention the FTC has paid to this kind of thing. Word of mouth is one of the most effective forms of marketing, but that becomes tainted once your friends have sold out.

Facebook says that it has received requests for a redlined version of the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities to help people better understand the updates they’re proposing. The company says they’re working on this and plan to post it to the Facebook Site Governance Page soon.

During the conference, CEO Ted Murphy gave the audience a sneak preview of Izea’s new product, SocialSpark; set to launch to the general public sometime in January. SocialSpark follows an eBay like model; that is, they have built a dynamic marketplace that connects buyers and sellers. 

So, who are the buyers and sellers?

In this case, SocialSpark is not necessarily selling a tangible product. Rather, they are providing a marketing and communications platform that connects advertisers to their target consumer groups.  While it could be positioned as a social network for bloggers, I believe it’s more than that because bloggers are not just bloggers. They are real people with real passions, needs and desires. They are moms, dads, sons, daughters, husbands, wives, etc. In other words, they are consumers and they do have circles of influence, both online in the form of their readership; and offline with family, friends, etc. SocialSpark levels the playing field so that brands can have real time, authentic conversations with their customers and/or potential customers.

Conversational marketing at it’s best

Consumers are tired of being bombarded with banner ads about Online Degrees and Online Dating; and nine times out of ten, they don’t even see it anyway. They are tired of being marketed to via pop ups and road blocks; and would rather be communicated with through online conversations. This is one reason blogging is growing exponentially everyday.  Consumers now have a channel to express their thoughts, opinions, recommendations and complaints about the products and services they use.  And, they expect for their side of the story to be heard.  The question is whether marketers are interested in listening. 

SocialSpark addresses this issue straight forward. Marketers can create profiles and interact with the community, as much or as little as they choose; complete with robust analytics that make Google’s product look web 1.0.  And yes, they can also pay bloggers to review their products and/or services (a concept I fully agree with as long as there is disclosure). Marketers will now have a unique opportunity to engage in conversations that are already happening in the market place.

In addition to sponsored content, SocialSpark marks IZEA’s first foray into display advertising by introducing a unique ad unit they call a Blog Welcome. This unit will be attractive to those advertisers who want to engage bloggers, but prefer to have control over the marketing message.

Most likely, SocialSpark won’t have a problem building momentum in the social media space; since IZEA can leverage their current user base of over 90,000 bloggers and 11,000 advertisers. They also promise to launch SocialSpark as an open API for developers and will also be compatible with Google’s OpenSocial.

Summary

The launch of SocialSpark will completely revolutionize the way marketers communicate with their consumers. With the platform being totally open to anyone and everyone, marketers can now participate with honest, open and transparent voices.  OF course, this can be risky with brands being open to mass criticism about their products/services; but there is really no way to avoid it since it will happen anyway with or without their participation.

Tag:

PayPerPost Bloggers Unranked By Google

Ted Murphy has been a lightning rod for criticism ever since the unveiling of PayPerPost, an ad system where bloggers are paid to write about an advertiser. Murphy’s company, now called Izea, fought back against early complaints about non-disclosure by instituting a disclosure policy.

Compared to what happened recently, that brouhaha looks like a minnow compared to what the big fish in the search industry did to PPP bloggers. Murphy blogged that Google had tweaked the PageRank of a number of those bloggers, dropping them to PR 0.

When it comes to finding blogs on Google, PageRank is one of a number of factors used to qualify the authoritativeness, and therefore the placement, of a site or blog in Google’s search results. Higher PR sites tend to rank well, which means people are more likely to find them and visit.

“Once again Google has proved that PR has little to do with blog traffic, influence or relevance and everything to defending their monopolistic stranglehold on search and online advertising,” Murphy said in his post.

He suggested services like PPP and similar competitors offering revenue to bloggers all have a common denominator: they aren’t Google AdSense. Google’s content network of AdSense participants extends the reach of its AdWords ad platform.

Despite the ominous drop in PageRank, it has been suggested that the blogs victimized by the change have not suffered a loss in traffic, according to Tony Hung. “My take on things is that Google wants to make an example out of Izea,” he wrote.

Traffic may not be impacted today, but the effects of the dramatic lowering of PageRank may be evident in the months to follow. As the dominant search engine, Google drives traffic to websites, and the higher they place in search results, the better the chance a site will receive a visit.

If the PageRank drop knocks blogs out of places where they had been ranking well in search, we expect that traffic will fall as well, and we will hear about this again.

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