• by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, April 22, 2010

Retailer Ann Taylor Loft seems to have dodged a Federal Trade Commission action for allegedly providing bloggers with gifts at a January preview of the store's summer line. But other companies might not be as lucky.

In a letter sent to Ann Taylor's lawyers this week, FTC associate director Mary Engle reiterates the agency's stance that bloggers must disclose all material connections to companies they write about. "Depending on the circumstances, an advertiser's provision of a gift to a blogger for posting blog content about an event could constitute a material connection that is not reasonably expected by readers of the blog," states the letter.

She also says that the FTC ultimately decided against bringing an enforcement action for a few reasons, including that only a small number of bloggers posted about the event; many of the ones who did so disclosed the gifts.

Another factor, according to Engle, was that Ann Taylor now has a written policy to tell bloggers who receive gifts to make disclosures. The letter states that Ann Taylor adopted that policy in February -- which would have been after the preview.

Eric Goldman, director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University, speculates that the FTC might have other companies in its sights. "The letter makes me wonder how many FTC blog-related investigations are pending," he writes. "I would be shocked if this were the only one."

But should the commission bring an enforcement action, the agency could have a very hard time justifying why gifts to bloggers should be treated differently than gifts to writers for mainstream media outlets.

The fact is, many reporters at mainstream newspapers and magazines accept swag from advertisers without making disclosures.

The FTC's decision to investigate marketers for giving freebies to bloggers -- but not to newspapers -- simply doesn't make sense. What's more, it seems like the FTC's stance could spur marketers to steer clear of bloggers, while continuing to offer swag to newspapers. It's hard to see how that result would benefit consumers.