FTC Removes "Unicorn" Status for Bloggers

I guess it takes awhile, but you can now add bloggers as a legitimate source of information, at least according to the FTC:

The Federal Trade Commission…can go after bloggers – as well as the companies that compensate them – for any false claims or failure to disclose conflicts of interest.

So this will make bloggers, commenters, and those associated with providing “tainted” information even more responsible for their content. I would imagine having Google just push their pagerank status down a couple of notches would be enough to curb any kind of nefarious activities.

Maybe Google and the FTC can work out a deal here – the FTC tips Google off to “bad bloggers”, Google drops their pagerank down, and requires the addition of a “few” FTC advertisements on the bad blog.