Penalty Amount
$1,500,000
The FTC alleged that Publishing.com LLC and its principals misled consumers with unsubstantiated earnings claims about their self-publishing programs, failed to disclose material connections with testimonial writers, and imposed hidden conditions on refund requests. The company agreed to pay a $1.5 million penalty and is subject to a proposed consent order prohibiting deceptive earnings claims, misrepresentations about refunds, and undisclosed endorsements. The consent agreement is subject to a 30-day public comment period before becoming final.
Publishing.com LLC and its principals must pay a $1.5 million civil penalty. The proposed consent order prohibits the company and individuals from making unsubstantiated or misleading earnings claims, deceptive misrepresentations about products or services, failing to disclose refund policy terms, and making misrepresentations about endorsements. The order also requires full disclosure of any material connections with endorsers or incentives for positive reviews, and mandates prompt honor of valid refund requests per company policy.
In-house legal teams should review customer-facing terms of service and refund policies to ensure all refund conditions are clearly disclosed upfront, avoiding buried fine print that restricts consumers’ ability to obtain refunds as required by the FTC’s order. Marketing and influencer vendor agreements must include clauses mandating disclosure of material connections (e.g., employment, familial ties, financial incentives) and prohibiting undisclosed incentivized testimonials. Employee agreements should be updated to ban staff from providing biased, undisclosed testimonials for the company’s products. All marketing vendor contracts should require representations and warranties that earnings claims are substantiated, non-misleading, and have a reasonable basis, with indemnification for deceptive advertising violations.
Entity
Publishing.com LLC
Industry
EducationOfficial Press Release
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2026/04/publishingcom-pay-15-million-misleading-consumers-about-how-much-income-they-could-earn-using
2423055publishingcomcomplaint
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/2423055publishingcomcomplaint.pdf
2423055publishingcomorder
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/2423055publishingcomorder.pdf
Federal Trade Commission Enforcement Page
https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement
"Publishing.com LLC"
"$1.5 million"
"April 13, 2026"
"the company and its operators misled consumers about how much money they were likely to earn using their products"
"failed to disclose when reviews were written by company employees or other people, including relatives of the Mikkelsens, who might be biased by their connection to the company"
"will pay $1.5 million"
The FTC settled charges with data broker Kochava, Inc. and its subsidiary Collective Data Solutions (CDS) over allegations that they sold precise location data from hundreds of millions of mobile devices without consumer consent, enabling tracking of visits to sensitive locations like reproductive health clinics and places of worship. The settlement prohibits the companies from selling or sharing sensitive location data without affirmative express consumer consent, and imposes compliance requirements including a sensitive location data program, supplier consent assessments, incident reporting, and data retention schedules. No monetary penalty was imposed.
The FTC filed a complaint and obtained a temporary restraining order against six defendants operating a deceptive health care scheme that impersonated government and insurance carriers to sell fake comprehensive health plans. The defendants allegedly charged consumers without express informed consent, failed to disclose material terms including cancellation processes, and misled consumers into paying for inadequate coverage that left many with substantial medical debt. The FTC seeks refunds for affected consumers and alleges violations of the FTC Act, Telemarketing Sales Rule, Impersonation Rule, and Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.
$140.0M
Following an FTC investigation, a federal court granted summary judgment against timeshare exit scheme operator Christopher Carroll, ordering him to pay $140 million total ($95 million in consumer redress, $45 million civil penalty) for defrauding consumers out of over $90 million. The scheme used deceptive direct mail and in-person pitches, falsely claimed affiliation with timeshare companies, failed to provide refunds, and violated the FTC’s Cooling-Off Rule by forcing consumers to sign non-cancellable contracts. Carroll is also permanently banned from marketing timeshare exit services or engaging in deceptive door-to-door sales.
This press release announces the FTC's testimony before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on April 15, 2026, outlining the agency's priorities including consumer privacy protection, competition enforcement, and implementation of the TAKE IT DOWN Act. No specific enforcement action against a private entity is announced in this release.
The FTC announced an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) seeking public comment on a potential nationwide rule to address unfair or deceptive fee practices by online food and grocery delivery platforms. The ANPRM covers requirements for disclosing total prices, fees, variable charges, price differentials, and promotion terms. Past FTC enforcement actions against Instacart and Grubhub for deceptive fee practices are cited as evidence of ongoing issues in the industry.
$868K
The FTC announced three separate settlements with companies making false 'Made in USA' claims: TouchTunes (electronic dartboards, $625k consumer redress), Americana Liberty and related parties (flags and flagpoles, $167,743 redress), and Oak Street Bootmakers (footwear, $75k redress). The companies violated the FTC Act, Made in USA Labeling Rule, and for Americana Liberty, the Textile Act and Rules, by making unqualified origin claims for products with significant imported components or wholly imported from China. Each settlement prohibits future misrepresentations of U.S. origin and requires consumer notices.