Sounds like the FTC is getting ready to crack down even harder on Freebie and other type of incentivized offers. Several news stories this week speculate that ValueClick is in the cross hairs. It’s reported that things are definately heating up in this space and several other major players are being investigated. Be sure the ads you display and the advertiser landing page you send leads to is in compliance.

According to Mark Meckler over at the DM Confidential iLegal column here are some of the new guidelines you need to be aware of.

“Various enforcement officers now state that in order to be “clear and conspicuous” such disclosures must be immediately contiguous to the offer (no footnotes or hyperlinks), and be in the same font size and color as the offer itself. The disclosures must include statements, where applicable, that a purchase is necessary to claim a “free” item, and must also disclose the average purchase price.”

Be sure to read the column above and see what Attorney Linda Goodman who specializes in compliance matters for Internet marketers has to say about how serious this issue is.

Jason Jones’s over at the Internet Outsider writes: “Something is going on here. This is the second time I have heard about FTC inquiries into lead gen. If this accelerates it could potentially be bad for VCLK, TRFX, TRAD.LL, Rakuten/Linkshare, APTM, and the companies most reliant on lead gen (VG, NFLX, the online education companies). This is worth digging into in more detail.”