Product-pushing bloggers must fess up by December 1

Updated

Have you ever wondered if that blogger is really a flogger pushing a product or service just a little too hard?

Starting December 1, bloggers promoting any kind of stuff from a company must admit if they got cash or gifts to do so. This means blogging will be goverment-regulated for the first time. The new rules don't apply to you if you tried the new Italian restaurant down the street and go onto your own personal blog to rave about how it was the best meal ever. They do apply to you if the restaurant gave you a big discount, a free meal or other goodies just to spur you to rave about it in your blog. This means bloggers must follow the rules, care of the Federal Trade Commission, that every advertiser already does now, making information they give about products more accurate for those of us reading them. (Uos WalletPop bloggers have to follow traditional journalism rules when it comes to our posts -- we don't take cash or gifts from companies to write about them, we just write the cold, hard truth and our honest opinions.)

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