Today’s guest post is from Paul Barron, publisher of such popular food industry Web sites as Fastcasual.com and Socialcoco.com. Follow Paul on Twitter @paulbarron.
At the Blog World Expo last week in Las Vegas, much of the buzz centered around the issue of disclosure and the relationship between content creators and their sponsors. The IAB’s protest of the FTC’s rules, saying they unfairly picked on new media, only fueled the fire.
As a publisher, this uproar fascinates me. From my perspective, it’s pretty clear: If you are getting paid in any traditional advertising sense of the word, then disclose it. The key words to me are “clearly and conspicuously.” Live by those, and the blog universe will be just fine.
Workshifting, a project by Chris Brogan and New Marketing Labs, is a great model for how to do it right.
Though the content is sponsored by Citrix, Chris clearly does not mask it in anyway. The editorial content is great, and it shouldn’t be discounted because it is sponsored.
So what do you think about this subject? Is “clearly and conspicuously” the key?