Product reviews can be an excellent opportunity to experience new products, gain search engine traffic, and monetize posts through affilaite links and related advertising. However, there are various ethical and legal concerns associated with reviewing products. This session will look at how bloggers can obtain products for review, how the related posts can be monetized, and discuss the benefits and difficulties that can arise from working with brands and public relations representatives, along with the etiquette of seeking products for review and following up with public relations representatives. It will then discuss ethical concerns associated with products provided to bloggers without charge, such as providing accurate reviews and the decision whether to write a negative review of a poor product as opposed to not reviewing such a product at all. Finally, several options for assuring legal compliance with requirements of the FTC Endorsement Guides will be covered.
