FTC Disclosure Compliance Rules
In 2015, the Federal Trade Commission released their new rules for Disclosure Compliance.
The rules set in place are to ensure that the viewers or readers of any website media are well aware of whether the publisher or blogger has a sponsor, partner or is being endorsed with a different company.
Moreover, readers need to know if the content publisher is making any money if they opt to share a link or a product online.
In compliance with the FTC guidelines, please assume the following information when it comes to posts and links on Houstoning.com:
- All/any of the links on Houstoning.com are affiliate links for which I always receive a small compensation from the sales of certain items.
What Are Affiliate Links?
Purchases are always made on external affiliate company websites. Therefore, when a viewer or reader clicks on an affiliate link located on Houstoning.com, in a bid to buy an item. The reader or viewer is buying the item directly from the seller and not from Houstoning.com.
Amazon and other companies often pay Houstoning.com, a small commission or other compensations for helping to bring consumers to their websites.
As for prices, they are always the same for every consumer, whether they opt to make their purchases via an affiliate link or a non-affiliate link.
Take note that clicking a non-affiliate link and clicking an affiliate link does not in any way change the price of the product or anything else for that matter, for the online visitor.
Houstoning.com usually uses two main types of affiliate programs:
- Amazon affiliate links
- Product affiliate links
Amazon Affiliate Links
Houstoning.com.com is a great participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program.
Amazon Services LLC Associates Program is an affiliate-advertising program that is designed to provide a way in which, website owners can earn fees by just linking to Amazon.com, affiliated websites, as well as other websites that may be affiliated with Amazon Service LLC Associates Program.
Product Affiliate Links
If by a good chance, you opt to click a product affiliate link and buy the said product. I will get a percentage of the sale or some other form of compensation.
Again, you should take note that prices are not different for the affiliate links. Therefore, you will not pay more by clicking through the link or opting to buy your product via the affiliate link. These links are not Pay per Click links.
What About Sponsored Content?
I for sure do not write any sponsored posts. I only provide authentic well-researched and unbiased information to my readers.
However, if for some reason a company wants to publish sponsored content on Houstoning.com, I will disclose it clearly at the beginning of the post.
The point is that I will only be recommending products that I use or those that I would recommend to friends and family to use, on this website.
On a lighter note, your purchases are likely to support my research and work within this niche.