Leadpile's Blog» FTC

FTC Looking At Implementing “do-not-track” List

Mari Woods Holt — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 05:18:32 +0000

As we are all now figuring out is that if we visit a website or fill out anything online, a million other people are going to have this information about us. Being in the online lead generation business I know that if you fill out something online you will be someone that most likely will develop a lot of new “friends” that email you. However, visiting certain websites and that being tracked, is something totally different. Should companies be able to track your information online so they can better understand your online behavioral trends? Should this be something that the Federal Trade Commission regulates?
No matter what you think is right or wrong, the FTC is now looking at regulating those that are tracking our online behavioral information. Being in lead generation, we all know that the benefits of lead generation are not the initial requests the consumers are filling out, yet it is the additional remarketing that is the attractive part of capturing the lead information. However, should companies have the right to capture all your internet activity to potentially use to remarket you? Many think the answer is no, therefore this is what is promoting the FTC to look into enacting a new law.
Agree or disagree?

FTC Enforcing Robocall Ruling

Mari Woods Holt — Mon, 03 May 2010 19:04:42 +0000

The FTC is taking their recent ruling very seriously with regards to making sure companies are abiding by the telemarketing robocall rules. Recently, the FTC slapped a fine against Talbots for conducting robocalls without the ability for the consumers to opt out. In December 2008 the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) was enacted to prevent this sort of thing from happening. Unfortunately, the procedures Talbots (and it’s call center) were doing, did not agree with the TSR requirements.
This sort of fine being slapped against companies is probably something we will all see more of. The bottom line with this is if you are not following the rules with regards to the telemarketing guidelines, you will be facing fines also. If you are wanting to effectively run a telemaketing campaign, you better do it the right way or your company will be the next one dishing out money to the government. Is it really worth it??

Made in America…

Natasha Aronov — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:01:12 +0000

It seems like most times when I pay attention or notice where things are made, it is frequently “Made in China” or “Product of Mexico”. What is actually made in the US, and how is it determined where something is made when the parts for one item may come from all different companies?
According to msnbc.com a product “Made in America” has to be all or virtually all produced in the United States. The Federal Trade Commission uses up nearly 40 pages to explain what is required to label a product with this title.
To wear the American label, the product must be assembled and majority of the costs associated with producing the product must have incurred in the United States. If a product was made in several different states, one of them being the US, the consumers may be able to see this in a couple of different ways. The product may show the percentage of the content that was made in the U.S., or it can be stated on the product “Made in USA from imported parts”, or “Assembled in the USA”.
If a company gets caught making an untrue “Made in America” claim, the FTC will get an order forcing you to stop making that claim – there is potential for a heavy fine for each infraction. The FTC relies on consumers to “tip them off” to these infractions on their Complaint Assistant Web site.

Online Reviews: Legitimate Or A Scam?

Mari Woods Holt — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 23:06:49 +0000

The internet is one of, if not the most, powerful media sources out there. Knowing this, companies look to bloggers, celebrities and others to help endorse their products and services through the internet. The FTC (Fair Trade Commission), is now looking to crack down on some of the behaviors of these bloggers and personalities who are endorsing products, to make sure they define the relationships with the advertisers, so consumers know they are being “paid” to say what they are saying. Knowing there are some “paid” relationships like this, consumers need to understand some reviews they read are possibly not objective. Consumers also need to be aware that on certain websites, the reviews you are reading could be the work of the employees at that company.
Leadpile has some testimonials on their website, however these are all submitted by current and past partners that have worked with at Leadpile. The bottom line with all of this is, really do some research in plenty of places to get a true idea of the product you are looking to buy or the company you are looking to work with. Don’t always believe what you read!

Behavioral Targeting Legislation In The House

Mari Woods Holt — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:20:09 +0000

Privacy groups believe that there needs to be legislation in place to protect consumers on the internet. Many are concerned that data collection of consumer’s internet experiences are not fair to the consumers, unless they opt in to allow this behavioral targeting to happen. The FTC was petitioned back in 2007, however now it is at the point of Congress and potentially enacting a new law(s).
Many retailers believe their use of behavioral targeting has allowed them to have an increase in sales. According to one retailer, “Personalizing a Web site [via behavioral targeting] helps an individual with an intent to find what they are looking for and helps the site owner deliver more content that is relevant to the individual, said Pete Olson, VP of product management at Amadesa.” The new potential legislation is looking at having the consumer “allow” such tracking of their internet behavior. Yahoo has argued that a consumer’s privacy should be respected in order to build trust with their consumers. Yahoo is doing it’s own regulatory data collecting by only keeping consumer’s data for 90 days. However, not all businesses are wanting to implement their own “rules”, therefore legislation seems to be the only way to protect consumer’s rights.
Leadpile will keep an eye on what happens with this potential legislation.

FTC Cracking Down On Illegal Marketing Practices

Mari Woods Holt — Fri, 15 May 2009 14:26:50 +0000

Has your cell phone or your landline rang many times in recent months, with you only to answer and there is a computerized extended car warranty recording? I know I experienced this call many times to the point of annoyance. Well, it appears that there are many other people, 4,000+ complaints to be exact according to DMNews, and now it seems the FTC (Fair Trade Commission) is involved.
There are potentially a lot of issues here with what this company is doing. First, there is the violation of the Do Not Call List and also potentially offering a phony product. The FTC is actively working on stopping this illegal marketing while the court case proceeds.
Working with all sorts of marketing methods, Leadpile Lead Exchange is very much concerned about who it works with and what those partners are doing to generate leads. We would certainly never condone this sort of illegal method of generating traffic/leads. With all these new technological ways to do marketing, the FTC is probably going to have it’s hands full in the years to come. Use the phone as a potential source of generating business, HOWEVER do it the legal way!

FTC Releases Updated Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising

Mari Woods Holt — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 04:57:30 +0000

An updated report has been rolled out protecting the privacy of consumers online. Behavioral targeting is something a lot of website owners, search engines and other online advertisers do to determine certain information about consumers online activities. This report was originally rolled out in November 2007, however there was a need to make some updates to the report.

One of the changes made allows websites owners to utilize consumers information for their own website marketing, however they can not share the consumer’s personal information for other gain. According to DMNews, the report also discusses the potential benefits of behavioral advertising to consumers, such as the free online content that advertising tends to support, as well as the benefits of personalization.” So there is maybe some benefits to behavioral advertising?
The bottom line with this revised report is that the FTC is trying to make sure that consumers are protected while searching online. However, at this point the “leash” is very loose, and it appears the FTC is trying to let the online advertising industry handle this on their own. Furthermore, I am sure there will be some sort of intervention if consumer’s personal information continues to be violated.
Leadpile Lead Exchange believes in protecting consumers information in a way that those that are not supposed to have the consumers personal information do not. We generate thousands of leads per day, and are adamant on making sure we protect each and every one of those consumer’s private information.