• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, March 1, 2017

An email comes in, rating an email platform or analytics system. It’s good content — I click through. But I’m skeptical. How do I know the author isn’t on the take? That is, how can I know, without being clairvoyant, that the influencer is not being paid for the review?

Payment doesn’t only come up in the form of cash: It can also consist of software or perks of some other sort, judging by Federal Trade Commission guidelines. Granted, I haven’t heard of email vendors paying influencers or reviewers, but I’m cynical because companies have fallen into this trap in other fields.   

Take Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, which last year signed a consent order with the Federal Trade Commission. The firm failed to “adequately disclose that it paid online influencers to post gameplay videos,” the FTC said in an announcement.

According to the FTC, Warner Bros. paid some reviewers thousands of dollars to post these positive videos on YouTube and social media, and it provided them with advance-release versions of the game: Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor.

I don’t understand why anyone would object to the latter. You can’t review a book — or anything — without having a copy of it. Money and substantial business services are different. But it shows you how easily you can get into trouble.

How does an honest company avoid a problem? The FTC is clear: “If there’s a connection between the endorser and the marketer of the product that would affect how people evaluate the endorsement, it should be disclosed,” the agency says in its guidelines.

A similar (and even stricter) standard exists in journalism: It covers any kind of connection, past or present, paid or unpaid. You either recuse yourself or make full disclosure.  

The FTC rules apply whether you’re sending the review via emails, blogs, social media or TV ads. Here are a couple of FTC tips on endorsements:

• They must be truthful and not misleading;
• They must reflect the endorser’s actual experience.

None of this means that you shouldn’t cultivate influencers and advocates. But don’t pay them — and if you do, be sure they say so openly.