How to stay compliant

In light of the Federal Trade Commission's 2024 rulings (16 CFR Part 465: Trade Regulation Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials), it's crucial to maintain compliance with regulations governing customer review incentives, disclosures, and related practices.

Disclaimer: The following information is provided for general guidance only and does not constitute legal advice. LoyaltySurf does not assume any liability for actions taken based on this information. To ensure full compliance with applicable regulations, we strongly recommend consulting with a qualified legal professional.

LoyaltySurf's Compliance Features

LoyaltySurf has implemented several features to assist with regulatory compliance:

1. Our reward templates come pre-configured with messaging designed to help meet compliance requirements.
2. The FAQ and Terms pages of your advocate portal include some built-in compliant messaging.

Additional Recommended Guidelines

While LoyaltySurf provides tools to support compliance, we recommend that all our customers adhere to the following additional guidelines:

1. No conditional rewards: You should not offer rewards based on the condition that the review must be positive or negative. Emphasize that the reward should be for the act of reviewing, regardless of the content of the review.
2. Require transparency: Require your users to disclose in their reviews or posts that they received a reward. For example, they could include a statement like, "Disclosure: I received a gift card from [Your Company] in exchange for providing an honest review of my experience with their product/service." This disclosure helps avoid any perception of the review being misleading and also builds trust with the audience.
3. Avoid misleading practices: Avoid rewarding any actions that might appear to generate fake social media indicators, such as asking for follows, views, or likes. Maintain strict verification processes to confirm the authenticity of user actions.
4. Ensure authenticity: Verify that reviews or comments are coming from real people and real users. Do not allow AI-generated content in reviews or comments.
5. Prevent conflicts of interest: Anyone associated with your company as an employee or in any other capacity is ineligible to leave a review.
6. Maintain all feedback: Do not allow the removal of negative reviews. All genuine feedback and comments, whether positive or negative, should be preserved.

By following these guidelines and seeking professional legal advice, you can help ensure that your business practices align with current regulations and protect against potential legal issues.