: Re: Is it considered ethical to accept payment from a business for reviewing a product or service? Let's say that you operate a popular blog that routinely dispenses your personal opinions and expert

@Kristi637

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An important consideration is that in the US, the FTC requires clear disclosure of paid reviews by bloggers. Both the advertiser and the blogger may be held liable if the blogger does not disclose that the review was paid.

From www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/attachments/press-releases/ftc-publishes-final-guides-governing-endorsements-testimonials/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf (emphasis mine):

Example 5: A skin care products advertiser participates in a blog advertising service. The
service matches up advertisers with bloggers who will promote the advertiser’s products on
their personal blogs. The advertiser requests that a blogger try a new body lotion and write
a review of the product on her blog. Although the advertiser does not make any specific
claims about the lotion’s ability to cure skin conditions and the blogger does not ask the
advertiser whether there is substantiation for the claim, in her review the blogger writes
that the lotion cures eczema and recommends the product to her blog readers who suffer
from this condition. The advertiser is subject to liability for misleading or unsubstantiated
representations made through the blogger’s endorsement. The blogger also is subject to
liability for misleading or unsubstantiated representations made in the course of her
endorsement. The blogger is also liable if she fails to disclose clearly and conspicuously
that she is being paid for her services. [See§ 255.5.]

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