According to Ad Age, Word-of-mouth marketing in the U.K. will face radical restrictions starting May 26, when it will become a criminal offense for brands to seed positive messages online without making the origin of the message clear.
The rules make it an offense to blog, use brand ambassadors or seed viral ads while “falsely representing oneself as a consumer.” They also apply to bloggers who fail to disclose they have accepted money to write about a product.
