Beginning Dec. 1, 2009, bloggers who write product reviews must disclose any connections to the manufacturer of the product, and whether they received free products or were paid by advertisers. You can read more about this in the New York Times article, Soon, Bloggers Must Give Full Disclosure (published Oct. 5, 2009). You can also read the Federal Trade Commission’s (16 CFR Part 255) Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (PDF, 81 pages).
I’ve blogged about a bunch of restaurants and products over the past few years, and I assure you: Not only do I have, as far as I know, infinitesimally few readers*, but I have not received any free products or meals or been paid to blog about … well, anything.
* I have one friend who seems to periodically check my blog for new posts, and another friend who checks if I tell her I posted something she might find interesting. And I get the occasional trackback. Other than than, no readership to speak of — seriously, even The Boyfriend doesn’t read my blog on a regular basis.