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The United States Federal Trade Commission has probably never heard of Erica Ehm, but if they knew what she was up to, they'd be very upset.

Here in Canada, Ms. Ehm still has a public profile as a former host of MuchMusic and the Life Network, but over the last three years, she has built up a small and passionate following on her blog website, the Yummy Mummy Club, where she writes candidly about the ups and downs of being a modern mother. Readers feel a strong bond with the site and its 20 blogs: Ms. Ehm claims a subscription list of about 40,000 for her monthly newsletter.

Which means that when marketers have a nifty product they want to get in front of people, Ms. Ehm's blog is a particularly appealing destination. When Nintendo launched its Wii Fit gaming console add-on, the company's public relations agency sent along one of the devices for her to try out, and she wrote glowingly about the fun her family had. What she didn't mention was that she got to keep the gadget, which retails for about $100.

Under new social media guidelines passed Monday by the FTC, if she were operating in the United States, Ms. Ehm would be required to disclose any payment she received from Nintendo, either in cash form or other material compensation, like keeping the Wii Fit.

“There's nothing wrong with bloggers getting a lot of free stuff,” Ms. Ehm said in an interview. “In fact, bloggers probably don't get enough perks from companies. You would not believe the number of PR companies I get sending me things like tubes of toothpaste and asking if I could write about it.”

“I also think we should be paid for our reviews,” she added.

Some bloggers and marketers think the rules are a good idea. Sony Electronics is currently running a project known as Digidads, which puts the latest Handycam into the hands of daddy bloggers. Even before the rules came down, the company required all of the participating bloggers to disclose that they are part of a Sony-sponsored campaign. At the end of the project, they are required to give the camera back.

“We have anticipated this decision for several months,” said Marcy Cohen, the senior manager of communications at Sony Electronics. “There have been some companies that have misstepped, just because there haven't been these rules. Everything we do, we've been making sure we've very transparent.”

“Disclosure is good,” noted Max Kalehoff, one of the Digidads participants and an executive at a New York search engine software firm who says he has never taken any money to blog about a subject, and would not do so because it could harm readers' perception of his integrity. “I have to live with that digital bread crumb for the rest of my life.”

He added, “I would look much more to my reputation and the court of public opinion as an enforcer rather than government.”

And many other bloggers have ridiculed the rules, noting the FTC has said that even chatter on Twitter would fall under their purview. The commission is also looking at the practice of online seeding: the practice of people being paid to insinuate themselves into discussions on comment boards or retailing websites with an eye to dropping in favourable commercial messages.

For anyone merely trying to keep up with the people they are following on Twitter, the notion of policing that entire micro blogging site, as well as a universe of retailing sites, where millions of people write about products they genuinely like or dislike, seems beyond absurd. And the FTC admits it hasn't figured out the logistics, saying only that it will likely target marketers rather than individuals.

The confusion may present an opportunity for Canadian bloggers, who are out of the FTC's reach. Advertising Standards Canada, which has the jurisdiction to investigate the use of disguised advertising techniques in this country, says it has not looked into the issue and would only do so if it were to receive complaints about the matter.

Since the ruling came down, the Internet has been afire with cries of double standards from bloggers who are noting that the commission's rules don't extend to traditional media, even as many of those outlets – particularly in the fashion and travel categories – blithely accept freebies.

The Globe and Mail, like many Canadian newspapers, requires its reporters to return electronics used for product trials, and forbids the acceptance in the course of business of anything of more than token value.

And many leading bloggers have similar policies, even if they are not formally spelled out. Howard Chui, a Toronto-based blogger whose site about cellphones is widely read, said he often buys the products he writes about in order to test them out.

But while many traditional outlets maintain strict lines between editorial and advertising, many other blogs have thrived financially by virtue of their more advertiser-friendly models.

One of Ms. Ehm's bloggers, Racheal McCaig, is known as the Energizer Mummy. Her blog is sponsored by Energizer batteries, for which she receives a cut of the site's advertising revenue. On occasion, she will fold in a reference to an Energizer product, without noting either that she has received it for free or that her paycheque derives in part from the company's sponsorship. The wider Yummy Mummy site is currently carrying an ad for Wii. Ms. Ehm says Nintendo just sent her the latest version of the console, and she is looking forward to trying it with her family.

“This whole thing of being online is about being authentic,” Ms. Ehm says. “We have built up a great base of readers who really respect our integrity.”

“The online world is a very exciting place; it's the wild, wild west,” she added. “I always wanted to be a cowgirl and this is my chance to be a virtual cowgirl, and to create new opportunities to connect with moms, and to help marketers connect with moms in an authentic way.”

In an e-mail yesterday, she added: “The blogosphere has given so many the opportunity to be self-employed and eke out a living on the net. In this economic climate where jobs are being lost, why penalize those trying to find new ways of making a living?”