As per the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising, "Endorsement Guidelines", as updated in 2015, Metacierge LLC dba Metacierge is legally required to inform all visitors to its website that endorsement or testimonial of the services featured involves financial incentives paid to Metacierge by the vendors of these services.

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This is to ensure that consumers are completely aware that the endorsements and/or testimonials of the featured services which may influence the consumers’ buying decisions are in lieu of monetary compensation paid by the vendors of these services to Metacierge.

This means that Metacierge must clearly disclose the fact that it receives compensation in a clear and prominent place in close proximity to all endorsements. This disclosure must appear on every web page that includes endorsements and cannot require the consumer to scroll through multiple page-views, or click on secondary links behind vague words such as “Disclaimer’’.

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The FTC enforces its guidelines in a serious manner by taking action against companies and entities that do not follow these guidelines, including marketers, advertisers, affiliates, PR agencies, web influencers and others.

 

The FTC has laid down these guidelines in a number of resources whose hyperlinks have been listed below (please click on the links):

 

• Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising

• The FTC's Revised Endorsement Guides: What People are Asking

• Dot Com Disclosures: Information About Online Advertising

• The FTC Native Advertising Guide

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To comply with the FTC Guidelines, Metacierge must disclose that it is receiving commissions, and these disclosures must meet four basic requirements: disclosures must be frequent, clear, conspicuous, and require no scrolling or other type of user action to locate.

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In other words, the disclosures must be:

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• Frequent: Disclosures must be "clear and conspicuous" whether they are in video, print or audio content.

• Clear: Language must be specific and easy to understand. This means, for example, Metacierge should identify which brands featured on each web page pays it commissions, and not merely that “some” do.

• Conspicuous: The location of the disclosure should be close to the endorsements or reviews. The font, color and size of the disclosure should be such that it is easily noticed and read. And the disclosure should not be obscured behind a vague, non-explanatory link such as “disclosure” or “disclaimer".

• Require no action: The user shouldn't need to click, hover, or scroll to locate or understand the nature of the disclosure.