Breaking Down the New FTC Endorsement and Testimonial Rules in Layman’s Terms

[David Jackson]

If anyone here has any questions about how the FTC's new Endorsement and Testimonial Rules applies to them, I wrote an article about the topic that was just published by SiteProNews.

Since laws are generally written in language that no one really understands, except lwayers, I decided to write about the topic in layman's terms, that anyone can understand.

Hopefully, my article will shed some light on the subject for you.

David Jackson

[David Jackson]

Not too long ago, I had someone on a social networking site tell me that displaying someone's income (screenshots of a clickbank account) on a website, blog, or any form of advertising is illegal!

Is it illegal to display someone's income in this way?

Matthew, based on my interpretation of the new law, it's not illegal to display someone else's income, provided you have permission from that person to do so. Of course, if you display someone else's income, you must be able to substantiate that income with an actual tax return, or a notarized bank statement certifying that the income statements are indeed valid.

In addition, under the new rules, advertisements that give the impression that the income shown is “typical” when that is not the case will be required to disclose the actual income that consumers can generally expect to make.

In a nutshell, if you don’t have the financial data to prove or substantiate any income claims you make, you must either furnish such data, or cease and desist making such claims.

David Jackson