PayPerPost Terms of Service Review – Section 3.1 – TRANSPARENCY & DISCLOSURE
We would like to open the discussion up about the PayPerPost Terms of Service, sometimes known as the Terms and Conditions. We will be reviewing section by section the TOS looking for ways to improve the TOS to help the blogging industry and the blog marketing industry move forward.
Background
Just for the record, I am NOT an Izea employee. This is a discussion about the Terms of Service and NOT an Official Edit of the Terms of Service. Our intent is to find a better way to draft the Terms of Service and then negotiate these changes with Izea to help this network improve. These recommended changes have not been approved nor implemented by Izea . . . . yet!
Some of the items and sections in the TOS are based on legacy concepts that date back to the inception of 2006. Since that time, blogging, professional blogging, and blog marketing have evolved considerably.
PayPerPost itself has evolved considerably over that time, yet the TOS and application of policies and procedures around those TOS have lagged behind.
To begin with, we would like to look at Section 3.1 TRANSPARENCY & DISCLOSURE. In particular we would like to focus on this topic in light of the evolution and launch of SocialSpark which is priced at the same level as PayPerPost, and offers full transparency, disclosure and nofollow links.
This leaves the older product of PayPerPost fulfilling a role more akin to SEO products. It could even point to a future where PayPerPost focuses less on Reviews and Buzz and more on SEO. In such a situation, disclosure as required by the Federal Trade Commission may not be required as those requirements hinge around the concept of endorsements and referrals.
Linkbuilding without a review or buzz article is not an endorsement.
Legacy TOS Sec 3.1 |
TOS Upgrade Sec 3.1 |
TRANSPARENCY & DISCLOSURE
Bloggers participating in the PayPerPost Marketplace must clearly disclose on their blogs the relationship between themselves and the Advertisers in connection with Opportunity-related posts. The appropriate manner in which to make such disclosure (e.g., site wide disclosure policy or disclosure on a per post basis) may vary with the circumstances and is to be determined by the Blogger. PayPerPost requires, however, that disclosure be made in a meaningful way that makes clear to an ordinary consumer that there is a relationship between the Blogger and the Advertiser. PayPerPost reserves the right to review and monitor the disclosure practices of all Bloggers who participate in the Marketplace and PayPerPost Direct and to either require greater levels of disclosure (in the event that PayPerPost determines in its sole discretion that current disclosure practices are inadequate) or remove the Blogger from the Marketplace (in the event of inadequate disclosures). Blogger agrees to comply with Our Blogger Code of Ethics, the Federal Trade Commission’s Staff Opinion Letter dated December 7, 2006, WOMMA’s Ethical Blogger Contract Guidelines, and all applicable laws and regulations, including but not limited to Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act and the Federal Trade Commission’s Endorsement Guidelines. |
TRANSPARENCY & DISCLOSURE Review or Buzz Related OpportunitiesBloggers participating in the PayPerPost Marketplace must clearly disclose on their blogs the relationship between themselves and the Advertisers in connection with Opportunity-related posts. The appropriate manner in which to make such disclosure (e.g., site wide disclosure policy or disclosure on a per post basis) may vary with the circumstances and is to be determined by the Blogger. PayPerPost requires, however, that disclosure be made in a meaningful way that makes clear to an ordinary consumer that there is a relationship between the Blogger and the Advertiser. PayPerPost reserves the right to review and monitor the disclosure practices of all Bloggers who participate in the Marketplace and PayPerPost Direct and to either require greater levels of disclosure (in the event that PayPerPost determines in its sole discretion that current disclosure practices are inadequate) or remove the Blogger from the Marketplace (in the event of inadequate disclosures). Blogger agrees to comply with Our Blogger Code of Ethics, the Federal Trade Commission’s Staff Opinion Letter dated December 7, 2006, WOMMA’s Ethical Blogger Contract Guidelines, and all applicable laws and regulations, including but not limited to Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act and the Federal Trade Commission’s Endorsement Guidelines. Link Only OpportunitiesBloggers participating in the PayPerPost Marketplace are not required to disclose relationships between themselves and the Advertisers in connection with Link Only Opportunities when the blogger does not write about the product or service of the Advertiser’s site, service or product. |
Text marked in red, indicates NEW Text or items that we recommend for addition to the Terms of Service. Text stricken through with a line indicates items we recommend for removal from the Terms of Service.
Important Changes in Above Talking Points
The primary change above includes the addition of a sub section for Link Only Opportunities and a sub section for Review or Buzz Opportunities. Text marked in red, indicates NEW Text or items that we recommend for addition to the Terms of Service.
Review and Buzz Opportunities have the same exact TOS wording as the legacy terms, however, Link Only Opportunities would not be governed by the FTC as links are only an area relevant to the web and to private companies on the web for that matter.
A link on a website does not indicate an endorsement.
Link Only Opportunities are a new product offering created by Izea in the PayPerPost system in January of 2009.
If you have any comments, suggestions, corrections or additions that are relevant for this section please add them in a comment below! We definitely want and need your input and feedback to perfect these TOS.
Tags: PayPerPost TOS
