The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has approved a final consent order settling its first case against social-media influencers: the infamous CSGO Lotto controversy.
It concerned two online gamers, Trevor ‘TmarTn’ Martin and Thomas ‘Syndicate’ Cassell, who promoted a gambling site CSGO Lotto in their videos while failing to disclose that they were its co-owners.
The FTC also found that the pair had also paid other influencers to promote CSGO Lotto without adequate disclosure of the commercial relationship.
“The Commission order settling the charges prohibits Martin, Cassell, and CSGOLotto, Inc. from misrepresenting that any endorser is an independent user or ordinary consumer of a product or service,” explained the FTC in its announcement this week.
“The order also requires clear and conspicuous disclosures of any unexpected material connections with endorsers.”
Influencer-marketing disclosure has been a major area of interest for the FTC in 2017. Earlier this year, it wrote to more than 90 influencers and marketers reminding them of their responsibilities on this front.