The FTC's new enemy: PAID POSTS

Do you get paid to blog?? Well make sure your readers are well aware of it or come this summer you could be violating new BLOGOLA rules.

As marketing budgets tighten, advertisers are looking for cheaper ways to get their messages in front of shoppers. Many have turned to the blogosphere, offering cash and products to amateur journalists in exchange for glowing reviews about their products.

In a few months the Federal Trade Commission will issue guidelines designed to clarify how companies can court bloggers to write about their products. Bloggers will be required to disclose when they're writing about a sponsor's product and voicing opinions that aren't their own.

Not in nearly 30 years has the FTC felt the need to revise the guidelines for editorial and testimonials in ads. But regulators say it's needed in an era when consumers increasingly turn to blogs and other amateur Web sites for information about the goods and services they buy.

Critics of the plan say the FTC is try to infringe on the rights of marketers and amateur writers who are forming new kinds of partnerships that fall outside of traditional boundaries.

Analysts say Bloggers are cost efficient for companies, Although, Google penalizes paid blog entries by demoting them in its search results.

The FTC says they are merely trying to legislate ethics and get some control over the wild blogosphere. They say the rules are similar to what radio and TV personnel have to deal with.

Enforcing these new measures will be easier said than done. Regulating the web??!! Good luck.