Let The Party Begin!!

Published: December 11, 2006

WASHINGTON (AdAge.com) -- The Federal Trade Commission today rejected a consumer watchdog group's call for a full-scale probe of
The FTC rejected a call from Gary Ruskin of Commercial Alert to look into word-of-mouth marketing practices.
word-of-mouth marketing, the controversial practice that tries to turn ordinary consumers' affection for products and brands into free advertising.

The ruling could lead to increased spending in an area that's already growing in popularity with marketers, whose audiences are harder to reach in an era of increased media fragmentation. Today's consumers are also less likely to be swayed by traditional ad pitches, especially given the amount of unbiased feedback they can find on the web about any given product or service.