A Wider Net

According to Hill & Knowlton, the current issue of PR Magazine has a cover story people who pose as consumers to blog for clients.  Apparently this practice will likely be illegal soon in the EU.
Seems like there are loads of similar testimonial fraud territory that the US could tackle, from user reviews to client case studies to radio testimonials.  Blog posers are certainly among the most insidious, since it undermines a media form built on trust.

Here’s a relevant article that asked the question about the legality of Splogs over a year ago. Since then there have been a lot of high profile fraud examples but I found no reference of any real progress on dealing with the issue.

Note: The PR Mag article isn’t on their web site - it’s apparently behind the subscriber login.