Interview: Tom Chernaik, Co-Founder, Cmp.ly

As the debate continues on the implications of the FTC’s new disclosure guidelines for social media, one company has released a new URL shortener service that it hopes will become a standard. The new guidelines go into effect on December 1st.

Called Cmp.ly, the service provides “six standard disclosures that are intended to cover all material connection disclosures.” The disclosures include:

CMP.ly/0 – No connection, unpaid, my own opinions
CMP.ly/1 – Based upon a review copy
CMP.ly/2 – Given a sample by vendor/agency/brand
CMP.ly/3 – Paid post – cash payment or other compensation
CMP.ly/4 – Employee/shareholder/business relationship
CMP.ly/5 – Custom Disclosure

It will be interesting to see if this catches on. We caught up with Cmp.ly co-founder Tom Chernaik by phone today from the BlogWorld Expo in Las Vegas to ask him why he launched the service, if he hopes to monetize it and if they’ve received feedback from the FTC.

What do you hope to acheive with the launch of Cmp.ly?

Really what we hope to do with it, is we felt that it’s important to have a standard format for disclosure. Obviously people know that they have to start disclosing. There is certain info, we know that there are certain things that need to be included. But when you look at how that information travels on the web, there is a disconnect, and that happens, because content on the web gets moved around the way traditional media doesn’t.

When things get ported through RSS, tweeted, re-tweeted, information moves in ways that we’re not used to and we need to find a simple solution because obviously disclosure and transparency and honesty are things I think we all want to see but when you try to apply a full disclosure statement to a tweet, it makes it diff to say anything of substance in that tweet.

Are you seeking endorsement from the FTC?

I’ve reached out to the FTC, they’re aware of it, and I’ve reached out to some of the industry trade groups as well. What we’re hoping to get is a consensus and be able to form a standard. Obviously, we have a short time line. We want to establish a standard before the guidelines change.

What do you think are some of the biggest misinterpretations in terms of the new FTC guidelines?

I think people see it as government coming in and regulating what people write about and the analogy that I’ve used is I see it as the social media space is sort of evolving and maturing and now they’re getting to really sit at the grown ups table and in doing so there are certain responsibilities and expectations as mature media that we have to follow. There are obviously things we have to work out.

Cmp.ly is a free service, correct? Is this something you’re looking to potentially monetize or is it being launched solely as a free tool?

It will be free to list a disclosure, and we’re working on a back-end system so people can set up user accounts and track all of their disclosures. We’re hoping to launch it as a standard so people can adopt it and then we’re looking to work with partners and agencies. There will be some changes in coming weeks, but we’ll have a working system up in time for change in guidelines.

What is the Cmply Foundation? Tell us about the work you’re doing and the organization’s goals?

We’re going to lauch it officially and make a bigger announcement soon. The goal is to create thought leadership and a base of resources in and around various aspects of the industry, to amke sure people’s voices are represented. We see this as an evolving piece and rely on the community to give us feedback.

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