Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - 13

INDUSTRY REPORTS

FTC Forum

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BY LESLEY FAIR

Dot Com Disclosures 2.0
Where were you in 2000? Scanning the headlines about AOL’s purchase of Time Warner? Clipping news stories predicting “Next Generation Phones to Become Pocket Computers”? Just grateful the Y2K bug didn’t send us back to the Stone Age? If you’re one of today’s innovators in the mobile or app market, you were probably – well – graduating from junior high. In 2000, the Federal Trade Commission published Dot Com Disclosures: Information About Online Advertising, the agency’s first guidance document on how FTC advertising laws apply to marketing and sales on the internet. Fast forward 12 years and it’s no surprise the FTC is thinking about how Dot Com Disclosures should be modified to reflect the current state of electronic retailing. Last year, in response to a request for your feedback, the FTC received hundreds of comments from marketers, techies, consumer groups and others suggesting ways Dot Com Disclosures could be rebooted. The next step in the process: a day-long public workshop set for May 30 in Washington, D.C. To focus the discussion, FTC staff has posed eight questions. (Yes, eight – Top 10 lists are so 2000.) 1. How can you make effective disclosures on social media platforms and mobile devices that limit how much space is available? For example, when there’s a material connection between an advertiser and an endorser that should be disclosed, how can that be accomplished on platforms that allow only short messages or a simple sign of approval? 2. When can disclosures provided separately from an initial ad be adequate? For example, if a consumer gets a location-based ad for a discounted cup of coffee on her mobile device because she’s near a particular coffee shop, what terms must be disclosed in the mobile ad? Can the disclosure of some terms wait until she gets to the shop to make her purchase? 3. What are the options when using devices that don’t let people download or print the terms of an agreement?

4. How can disclosures that are made in the original ad be retained when the ad is aggregated (for example, on dashboards) or retransmitted (say, through retweeting)? 5. What are the disclosure opportunities and limitations of hyperlinks, jump links, hashtags, click-throughs, layered disclosures, icons and other similar options? How should these options be evaluated in terms of placement and proximity? 6. How can short, effective and accessible privacy disclosures be made on mobile devices? 7. What does the research show about how consumers’ use of mobile and other devices factors in to the effectiveness of disclosures on particular devices or platforms? And what does it show about the relationship between how consumers use mobile devices and their understanding of disclosures and advertising displayed on them? 8. Is there research on the effectiveness of disclosures on mobile devices, including layered disclosures and icons, and, if so, what are the implications of that research for disclosures such as offer terms and privacy practices? The workshop is free and open to the public. Visit business.ftc.gov to find out more. Lesley Fair is an attorney with the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.

Last year, in response to a request for your feedback, the FTC received hundreds of comments from marketers, techies, consumer groups and others suggesting ways Dot Com Disclosures could be rebooted.

May 2012 | electronicRETAILER

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Electronic Retailer - May 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Electronic Retailer - May 2012

Calendar of Events
Your Association, Your Bottom Line
Industry Reports
FTC Forum
eMarketer Research
IMS Retail Rankings
Jordan Whitney’s Top Categories
From the Executive’s Desk
Cover Story Leading a Fitness Revolution
ERA’s in Your Corner on the Key Issues
10 Secrets to Slashing Production Costs
Guest Viewpoint
Teleservices
Creative
Legal
Fulfillment
Member Spotlight
Advertiser Spotlight
Bulletin Board
Advertiser Index
Classifieds
Rick Petry
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - cover1
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - cover2
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - 3
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - 4
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - 5
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - 6
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - Calendar of Events
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - Your Association, Your Bottom Line
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - Industry Reports
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - 10
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - 11
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - 12
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - FTC Forum
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - eMarketer Research
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - 15
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - IMS Retail Rankings
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - 17
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - Jordan Whitney’s Top Categories
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - 19
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - From the Executive’s Desk
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - 21
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - Cover Story Leading a Fitness Revolution
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - 23
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - 24
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - 25
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - 26
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - 27
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - ERA’s in Your Corner on the Key Issues
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - 29
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - 30
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - 31
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - 10 Secrets to Slashing Production Costs
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - 33
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - 34
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - Guest Viewpoint
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - 36
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - 37
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - 38
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - Teleservices
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - Creative
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - Legal
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - Fulfillment
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - 43
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - Member Spotlight
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - 45
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - Advertiser Spotlight
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - Advertiser Index
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - Classifieds
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - 49
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - Rick Petry
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - cover3
Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - cover4
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