• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, March 26, 2015

A prominent authority on advertising law doesn’t believe the Federal Trade Commission will weigh in anytime soon on new regulatory policies governing native advertising, but now is a good time to get out in front of it by self-regulating around industry best practices that at least adhere to the FTC’s current endorsement policies.

“Consider whether church and state are really dead and what the regulatory polices are going forward,” Vejay G. Lalla, Partner, Entertainment, Advertising, and Promotions Group, Davis & Gilbert LLP, told Content Marketing Insider Summit attendees this morning, recommending several steps brands and their partners can take ahead of any FTC guidance on the subject.

Among other things, Lalla recommended brands and publishers ensure that they have disclosure agreements with bloggers who blog brand content to make sure they are above board and adhere to testimonial disclosure rules, because once they start blogging about a brand for money, “They are no longer third-party vendors in this. They are partners.”