Bits Blog: Amazon vs. Hachette: When Does Discouragement Become Misrepresentation?

After Amazon’s aggressive stance against a major book publisher became public last week, criticism and complaints mounted. But Amazon seems confident it will get what it wants.



F.T.C. Chides Nissan Over Deceptive Truck Ad

The commercial shows a Nissan Frontier pickup pushing a stuck dune buggy up a sand hill, but in reality both vehicles were pulled up the hill by cables.

    



As Online Ads Look More Like News Articles, F.T.C. Warns Against Deception

The Federal Trade Commission fears that what has become known as “native advertising,” “paid links” or “sponsored content” can confuse consumers.

    



Nielsen Deal For Arbitron Is Complete

The deal will allow Nielsen to better track the public’s media consumption across television, radio and range of electronic devices.

    



Acxiom Lets Consumers See Data It Collects

Visitors to the site can review many seemingly innocuous facts about themselves, but critics say it provides a sanitized view of the information mining behind data-driven marketing.

    



F.T.C. Tells Search Engines to Label Advertising as Such

The Federal Trade Commission told Google, Bing and Yahoo among others to clarify what sort of material is coming up in search results.

    

F.T.C. Takes Aim at Unwarranted Cellphone Charges

The Federal Trade Commission announced its first mobile cramming case, accusing a company of taking advantage of consumers by tacking unwarranted charges onto their phone bills.

    

Two Deterrents to Robocalls Win F.T.C. Contest

The Federal Trade Commission expressed hope that the winning proposals find their way to the marketplace soon, to provide relief to millions of American consumers.

Faux Fur Case Settled by Neiman Marcus and 2 Other Retailers

In a forehead-slapping development, Neiman Marcus and two other retailers settled federal claims that they had marketed rabbit, raccoon and other real fur as fake fur.