• by Tom Siebert , December 12, 2006

The Federal Trade Commission handed the Word of Mouth Marketing community a big win Monday. The government organization rejected a complaint filed by the anti-advertising group Commercial Alert, which urged the FTC to regulate companies engaged in buzz-marketing practices.

The timing couldn't have been better for WOMMA, whose annual summit begins today. WOMMA asked the FTC to make a distinction between buzz marketing, which is a legitimate marketing tactic and strategy, and stealth marketing--a practice the association condemns and opposes.

Association CEO Andy Sernovitz, who also announced that he will be stepping down from the position at the end of March, was pleased with the FTC's decision.

"The FTC statement is a major victory for WOMMA and WOM marketers everywhere," he says. "It says our ethical program is doing the job. Everybody wins."

The government agency determined that serious offenses should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis; it encourages the public to continue to submit information regarding instances of abuse.

"At least, the commission acknowledged that companies can deceive people when their word-of-mouth marketers hide that they are trying to sell products," said Gary Ruskin, executive director of Commercial Alert, in a statement. "But the commission gave the word-of-mouth marketing industry a giant Christmas present by refusing to launch a wholesale investigation of the industry for deceptive marketing."

One WOMMA member says the Commercial Alert complaint unfairly placed all members of the community under a common term of "buzz marketing."

"The commission left itself plenty of room to investigate individual companies that violate FTC law, most notably those companies that pay people to pretend to be unbiased consumers and shield their true affiliation with the marketer," says Joe Chernov, director of communications for BzzAgent, one of WOMMA's founding companies.

"We are pleased with the response," he said, adding that so should be "all those who adhere to WOMMA's ethical code."