The previously-announced Federal Trade Commission plans to combat blog-delivered stealth marketing were more clearly delineated today, perhaps too abruptly for some:

Some marketing groups fought the changes. “If a product is provided to bloggers, the F.T.C. will consider that, in most cases, to be a material connection even if the advertiser has no control over the content of the blogs,” said Linda Goldstein, a partner at Manatt Phelps & Phillips, a law firm that represents three marketing groups, the Electronic Retailing Association, the Promotion Marketing Association and the Word of Mouth Marketing Association. “In terms of the real world blogging community, that’s a seismic shift.”

Ms. Goldstein added, “We would have preferred the F.T.C. to work closer with the industry to learn how viral marketing works.”

Translation: “We would have preferred spending a few more months sandbagging the FTC while we squeezed the last few drops of juice out of this unregulated channel.”

I guess the unmarketing folks will just have to fast-track their migration to Twitter and other post-blogging platforms. It’s a nomadic pursuit, of course — you exploit the new territory for as long as you can before regulation comes in to spoil the party. Left in the wake are the party favors and a lot of noise.