The United States Federal Trade Commission criticized YouTube group Machinima in a press release on Wednesday\u00a0following an investigation into deceptive advertising.<\/p>\n
This started back in 2013 with the release of the Xbox One. Microsoft had contracted\u00a0Machinima to do some advertising work for them \u2013 pretty normal stuff.<\/p>\n
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What became questionable, however, was\u00a0that Machinima then asked YouTube personalities to create Xbox One videos that, according to documents obtained by\u00a0Kotaku<\/em>, showcase Microsoft products in a positive light and offer talking points about the features the personalities are looking forward to on the system.<\/p>\n In short, Microsoft asked for advertising, but Machinima provided paid endorsements that were not disclosed as such.<\/p>\n Machinima and the FTC have reached a settlement that prohibits them from engaging in tactics like these, and ensures that their future videos will clearly disclose when\u00a0endorsements have been paid for.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen people see a product touted online, they have a right to know whether they\u2019re looking at an authentic opinion or a paid marketing pitch,\u201d said Jessica Rich, Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection. \u201cThat\u2019s true whether the endorsement appears in video or any media.<\/p>\n After word got out in January 2014, Microsoft had Machinima mark the videos as paid advertising,\u00a0providing a statement to <\/a>Eurogamer<\/a>, <\/i>for example, saying that the company \u201cwas not aware of individual contracts Machinima had with their content providers are part of this promotion, and we didn\u2019t provide feedback on any of their videos.\u201d<\/p>\n Regarding Microsoft and the advertising agency it\u00a0used to setup the relationship with Machinima, the FTC said that this seems to be more of an isolated incident and pointed to the company\u2019s swift response as evidence.<\/p>\n