Marketing agency settles “astroturfing” charges over fake iPhone game reviews

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced on Thursday that a Californian marketing company had settled charges that it engaged in deceptive advertising by having its employees write and post positive reviews of clients’ iPhone games in the Apple iTunes Store, without disclosing that they were being paid to do so.

Last year the FTC introduced a set of guidelines for internet endorsements that cover anyone writing reviews on websites or promoting products via sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

Under the settlement, Reverb Communications and one of its executives, Tracie Snitker, agreed to remove all of the iTunes reviews that appeared to have been written by ordinary people but were actually written by employees of the company. The settlement also bars Reverb and Ms. Snitker from making similar endorsements of any product or service without disclosing any relevant connections. The settlement did not involve any monetary penalties.

Stacey Ferguson, a lawyer with the Bureau of Consumer Protection, said “We hope that this case will show advertisers that they have to be transparent in their practices and help guide other ad agencies.â€

In a press release, the US attorney general said the action was “a strike against the growing practice of ‘astroturfing,’ in which employees pose as independent consumers to post positive reviews and commentary to Web sites and Internet message boards about their own company.â€

The Law Brief Update team notes that similar rules also exist under EU law. The European Commission has published guidelines (pdf file) on this issue.

The New York Times

Related posts:

  1. Council wins motorbike parking charges case
  2. Fake eBay bidder fined £5000
  3. iPhone 5 revealed

Other posts by

August 27, 2010   Posted in: News

Leave a Reply

CAPTCHA Image
*