This month the FTC released an update to its 2000 guidelines on dot-com disclosures in mobile and social media advertising.  These updates provide guidance on how to effectively make disclosures clear and conspicuous so as to avoid any deception for the consumer.   Some of the guidance is the same but other areas have changed.  For instance, the 2000 guide advised that advertisers should place disclosures, “near, and when possible, on the same screen” as the relevant claim, while the 2013 updates state that a disclosure should be placed “as close as possible to the relevant claim.”  The updates also explain that if a disclosure cannot be made clear and conspicuous and without a disclosure the ad would be deceptive or unfair then that ad should not be disseminated.  This also applies to platforms as a whole that might inhibit disclosures.  Twitter is one such platform that could be difficult to provide clear and conspicuous disclosures on due to the word limit.  Some things were continued from the original guidelines.  One such example was that advertisers should avoid using hyperlinks for disclosures that involve pricing information or certain health and safety issues.  These determinative factors should be present in the ads main text and should not be hidden in a disclosure.   The new guidelines also provide useful mock ads to illustrate the updated principals.  To see the full updated guidelines please follow this link: http://www.ftc.gov/os/2013/03/130312dotcomdisclosures.pdf

For more on privacy issues come register for AdNauseaum.org Presents: Advertising Trends in Class Actions on April 2^nd.  There will be panels on Privacy: the Large Scale Issues and Deciphering Natural Claims as well as The Class Action Demystified.  You can register here: www.nyls.edu/adlaw