Last week, the FTC approved final revisions to its guidance to advertisers on how to keep their endorsement and testimonial ads in line with the FTC Act.

There’s been no shortage of discussion about these updates and the $11,000 fine per post that could be imposed on bloggers that break the rules. That’s right, social media is not exempt. And, there are plenty of deceptive marketers and bloggers pushing the limits of what’s ethical, so I certainly see the need.

For b2b marketers, there’s a lot to consider. The revisions could impact how you use results of product trials, how you conduct product review programs with bloggers, even how your PR rep retweets your news coverage, and the list goes on and on. For details on the changes, you can read the Revised Endorsement and Testimonial Guides here (or pass them along to your agency).

While I agree that the guidance is needed, it begs the question—how will this be enforced? Among social media, in particular, this seems like a daunting task. My money is on the community self-policing, but only time will tell.

What do you think? Are the new rules overkill?