According to a Monday statement by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the guidelines pertaining to endorsements and testimonials in advertising will soon undergo a much-needed revision, in a move that would not only regulate blogging for the first time and also mandate that testimonials show distinctive results.

Ever since the advent of the blogging and social media age, the 1980 rules concerning endorsements and testimonials in ads have largely become obsolete.

However, the FTC move, which takes effect December 1, would require bloggers reviewing products to fully disclose their connection, if any, with the advertisers; and also reveal the receipt of free products and or payments from the advertisers.

A revision in the rules will make product information and online reviews more accurate for consumers, by bringing about a rapid shift in the new-media world and the manner in which advertisers use bloggers and social media sites like Twitter and Facebook to promote their products.

Though the new guides are not legally binding, the interpretations of rules presume advertisers' compliance to them; and a breach of the regulations would lead to various sanctions including a lawsuit.

In the opinion of Jonathan Zittrain, a Harvard Law School professor and the co-founder of Berkman Center for Internet and Society, "the rules are looking ahead to a quite possible future when there is a market to buy 'authentic' public endorsements."