The document summarizes rules from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding truth in advertising and what constitutes a deceptive advertisement. Specifically, it states that under FTC rules, advertisements must be truthful and non-deceptive, advertisers must have evidence to back claims, and ads cannot be unfair. It also outlines how the FTC determines if an ad is deceptive by looking at the ad from the perspective of a reasonable consumer and considering express and implied claims as well as omitted information. The document notes different standards for deceptive ads on mobile versus desktop and includes a summary of California law regarding automatic renewal and continuous service offers.

1. Get Compliant.
Get Conversions
January 12, 2014
11:00 am – 12:00 pm

2. What truth-in-advertising rules apply
to advertisers?
Under the Federal Trade Commission Act:
•Advertising must be truthful and nondeceptive;
•Advertisers must have evidence to back
up their claims; and
•Advertisements cannot be unfair.

3. What makes an advertisement
deceptive?
• According to the FTC's Policy Statement on
Deception, an ad is deceptive if it contains a
statement - or omits information - that:
• Is likely to mislead consumers acting
reasonably under the circumstances; and
• Is "material" - that is, important to a
consumer's decision to buy or use the
product.
• http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/policystmt/ad-decept.htm

4. How does the FTC determine if an ad
is deceptive?
• The FTC looks at the ad from the point of view of
the "reasonable consumer”.
• The FTC looks at both "express" and "implied"
claims.
• The FTC looks at what the ad does not say.
• The FTC looks at whether the claim would be
"material”.
• The FTC looks at whether the advertiser has
sufficient evidence to support the claims in the
ad.
• http://business.ftc.gov/documents/bus35-advertising-faqs-guidesmall-business

9. Mobile Standard of Deceptive
• Something considered “non-deceptive” on a
desktop, may be “deceptive” on mobile.
• FTC considers the medium the ad is served in,
not just the language of the ad.
• Dotcom Disclosures:
– If a disclosure is required and it cannot be made in
a clear and conspicuous fashion, the
advertisement should not be disseminated.

10. Mobile –Cont.
• When users have to scroll to see a disclosure, the FTC
recommends that the advertiser use text or visual cues (e.g.,
“see below for important warranty information”) to alert the
reader to scroll and that the disclosure be “unavoidable” (i.e.,
that the consumer be precluded from proceeding without
scrolling through the entire disclosure).
• In light of the smaller screen for mobile devices, Web sites
should be optimized when viewed on mobile devices to
eliminate users from having to scroll left, right, or down to
view the entire disclosure

17. http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/workshops/negativeoption/presentations/Fair.pdf

24. CA BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS CODE
SECTION 17600-17606
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17602. (a) It shall be unlawful for any business making an automatic renewal or
continuous service offer to a consumer in this state to do any of the following:
(1) Fail to present the automatic renewal offer terms or continuous service offer
terms in a clear and conspicuous manner before the subscription or purchasing
agreement is fulfilled and in visual proximity, or in the case of an offer conveyed
by voice, in temporal proximity, to the request for consent to the offer.
(2) Charge the consumer's credit or debit card or the consumer's account with a
third party for an automatic renewal or continuous service without first obtaining
the consumer's affirmative consent to the agreement containing the automatic
renewal offer terms or continuous service offer terms.
(3) Fail to provide an acknowledgment that includes the automatic renewal or
continuous service offer terms, cancellation policy, and information regarding how
to cancel in a manner that is capable of being retained by the consumer. If the
offer includes a free trial, the business shall also disclose in the acknowledgment
how to cancel and allow the consumer to cancel before the consumer pays for the
goods or services.

25. • "Clear and conspicuous" or "clearly and
conspicuously" means in larger type than the
surrounding text, or in contrasting type, font,
or color to the surrounding text of the same
size, or set off from the surrounding text of
the same size by symbols or other marks, in a
manner that clearly calls attention to the
language. In the case of an audio disclosure,
"clear and conspicuous" and "clearly and
conspicuously" means in a volume and
cadence sufficient to be readily audible and
understandable.

26. Questions?
Moderator:
Amber Paul, Global Wide Media
Amber@globalwidemedia.com
Speakers:
Blaine Lebrone, One Technologies, Inc.
Blabron@otcorporate.com
Sarah de Diego, De Diego Law
Sarah@dediegolaw.net
Nate Seibert, Madrivo Media
Nate@Madrivo.com