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BzzAgent Disclosure Guidelines  

Last updated: September 27, 2022

When you write a review as a BzzAgent, you have to clearly disclose that you got the product you’re reviewing for free from the applicable brand in exchange for writing that review and must otherwise comply with the FTC’s Endorsement Guides, in Canada, the Competition Bureau's influencer marketing guidelines and guidance and Advertising Standards Canada’s Influencer Marketing Disclosure Guidelines, and, in the UK, any relevant guidance issued by the Competition and Markets Authority ("CMA").

 

These BzzAgent Disclosure Guidelines provide some highlights and examples of how we expect you to comply with these requirements. (For additional information about complying with the FTC’s Endorsement Guides, please see here and here. For those in Canada, see here, here, and here for information about the Competition Bureau’s requirements.) For those in the UK, see here for information about the CMA's requirements.)


If you fail to disclose your connection to the Brand or otherwise violate these Disclosure Guidelines, we may remove your content and we may not invite you to be a BzzAgent in future campaigns. Remember that your participation in the BzzAgent program is also subject to compliance with our Influencer Agreement.

Key Points

Please review the above guidelines and this document carefully, but here are some key points to keep in mind:  

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  • Always clearly say in the review itself (near the beginning) that you received the product/service for free. 

    • No specific wording is required, so feel free to use your own voice – but it needs to be clear that you got the sample for free and have a material connection to the brand. For example, “Thanks [BRAND] for the free [product]!” 

    • We will automatically append a badge to your reviews, noting that they were submitted as part of the BzzAgent program. However, this is not enough by itself. You must also make a clear and conspicuous disclosure in the review.
       

  • Your review must be honest and based on your personal experience with the product. If your experience was negative, you should say so. 
     

  • If you’re a PowerReviews employee, you must also disclose that in your review. See below for more details.

When Must I Disclose?

  • Whenever you post a review discussing a brand whose products/services you sampled for free through our BzzAgent program, you must clearly disclose your connection to the brand.
     

  • Also, if you discuss the brand or the free sample(s) you received through BzzAgent outside of your review (e.g., on your own social channels), you must disclose your connection to the brand in those communications as well – even though the brand and BzzAgent didn’t ask you to make those posts. Again here the disclosure of your material connection must be clear and conspicuous and be made upfront near the beginning of each post you make.
     

  • Finally, you must also separately disclose your connection to BzzAgent if you’re an employee of BzzAgent’s parent company, PowerReviews, Inc., or are a family member of any PowerReviews employee.

What Do I Have to Say & How Do I Say it?

  • You have to clearly say within your review that you received the product/service for free from the brand. 

    • No specific wording is required. Feel free to use your own voice and put the disclosure in context. Some examples:

      • “Thanks to [BRAND] for the free [product].” (BUT NOT: “Thanks, [BRAND]!” That’s not enough by itself.)

      • “[BRAND] sent me this free sample through the BzzAgent sampling program.” 

      • “[BRAND] kindly gave me this [product] for free so that I could review it.”

      • (In these examples, you’d replace references to “BRAND” and “product” with the name of the brand and product or service that you’re reviewing.)
         

  • We will automatically apply a badging function to disclose that you are writing your review as part of the BzzAgent sampling program. The badge isn’t enough alone, though. You have to disclose in the review itself, too.
     

  • Disclosures must be prominent and hard to miss for a reader. Put the disclosure at or near the beginning of the post. Disclosures should be clear, easy to understand, and unambiguous.
     

  • If you’re a PowerReviews employee (or the family member of an employee), you must also disclose that you work for BzzAgent whenever posting as part of the BzzAgent program. For example, “[BRAND] sent me this free sample because I participate in the BzzAgent sampling program. (I work for the company that owns BzzAgent.).” 
     

  • Be honest. Make sure statements made in your review are true and not misleading, false, or deceptive.

    • Don’t review a product or service you haven’t tried. Your review has to reflect your personal experience and honest opinion.

    • If your honest opinion about a sample you got through BzzAgent is negative, say so. You are not expected to post only positive reviews and we will not penalize you for being honest.

    • Do not hold yourself out as an ordinary consumer, but you can say you are also a user of the brand’s products or services.

    • Do not give the impression that you have bought the product yourself.
       

  • Do not make claims (express or implied) regarding a product or service’s performance or effectiveness (i.e., the results a user can expect, even if you actually achieved those results) unless the brand itself makes the same claim regarding the product or service in its own recent advertising AND the claim accurately reflects your honest, personal experience with the product or service. (For example, please don’t claim that a supplement cures disease or a circular saw is “100% safe”.) These claims about a Brand’s products or services may need to be adequately substantiated and/or qualified to avoid being unlawfully deceptive. 

Additional guidance for UK-based BzzAgents Submitting Reviews on UK-based Sites

You are solely responsible for the content you publish in your reviews.  As described above, we may remove your reviews if you fail to disclose your connection to the brand or otherwise abide by these Disclosure Guidelines, but we do not otherwise edit the substance of your reviews.  

 

If you are provided with any of the following products as a sample, we recommend considering certain guidance available online by UK regulators prior to writing a review. We have provided links to such guidance below, for your convenience.

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