We thought you should know that the Federal Trade Commission just published new guidelines about - among other things - blogs that feature product endorsements.

That sure caught my attention.

The Guides, which have been around since 1980, have been freshened up to "specify that while decisions will be reached on a case-by-case basis, the post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement. Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service."

Then I breathed a huge sigh of relief.

See, there's a seedy underbelly to media where some journalists - crappy, amoral journalists for sure (there are many names for these people: swag hags, freebie queens, whores, shills) - but still journalists, who too enthusiastically accept gifts (like bikes and components), giveaways, expensive meals, all-expenses-paid trips and the like in exchange for editorial coverage. If you're a keen reader, you can probably already spot this perversion, aptly called "advertorial." So far it has flown silently under the radar because the FTC has no authority to regulate speech unless it's specifically commercial speech.

The new guidelines surfaced due to a recent spate of bloggers trumpeting the virtues of a product that they were either given or were paid to endorse.

As a rule, Speedgoat does not engage in this distortion of product promotion. In fact, if we see something worthy of review, like SRAM XX for example, we'll gladly pry open the company wallet and plunk down the money in order to assimilate a user experience in the most objective way possible. We hope you've noticed.

Ethics in editorial is becoming an increasingly slippery slope, especially with the financial hemorrhaging of traditional media (whose journalists are getting more "creative" in closing personal budget gaps) and the resulting evolution of social media. Cultivating your trust has been a company goal since day 1 and part of the process has been honest product assessments without any outside influences.

Now for the scary part: the new Guidelines have abolished the safe harbor, "which allowed advertisers to describe unusual results in a testimonial as long as they included a disclaimer such as 'results not typical.'”

So the next time you're in a post-race fog watching infomercials on late-night TV and there's a product that illustrates miraculous abilities to heal road rash and sunburn PLUS get stubborn stains out of your race kit, buyer beware!