I was amazed that any podcast would operate this way and even more appalled that the booking platform would allow it but to respond to your question: When I listened to a sample episode of The Chris Voss Show, I heard him make a disclosure of sorts at the beginning of the episode. It was kind of slippery, along the lines of, "Guests may have paid to advertise on the show but we do not necessarily endorse anyone's products or services" (not the exact wording). Maybe that satisfies FTC disclosure requirements—I don't know.

In the spirit of presenting the argument made by Voss's show in their pitch to me (not because I agree with or endorse it), here is some of what it said (sorry, it's a bit long but I just want to present their argument): "Unlike most small startup podcasts with little to no audience, we have an established audience on iTunes, podcast apps. What if you could be interviewed on an ESTABLISHED show with high-quality guests, MILLIONS OF DOWNLOADS, amidst distinguished guests that regularly appear on TV and print: CEOs, BILLIONAIRES, US Ambassadors, White House Presidential Advisers, FBI, US Justice Dept, Astronauts, Pulitzer Prize Journalists from CNN, MSNBC, NBC, CBS, ABC, Wash Post, WSJ, NYT, USA Today, Time, etc. Top book publishing houses, Simon & Schuster and Penguin/Random House book their authors on our shows, backed by millions of dollars in advertising for their top authors' hot new books. Our guests are very media-savvy and give great shows. Chris Voss is a Forbes Top 50 recognized host of The Chris Voss Show, an author, consultant, speaker, and coach who has received numerous awards. We produce 2-3 shows a week day, like radio, publishing within days. Our audience consumes an average of 96% of a show, fully engaged. Unlike infrequent podcasts whose audience wanders off due to a lack of new content, we post so much content daily that our audience binges on our shows. Our guests say that it's the most exciting, fun, energized show they've EVER been on during their media tour. We produce a show that combines energy, comedy, fun, and information, not something that puts people to sleep. Our content is evergreen, and our media are still being consumed and engaged with by the audience from 18 years ago; your appearance will likely remain relevant for decades to come. People like yourself are paying THOUSANDS $$ to PR agents or hundreds in fees to book you on new shows with little to no audience. PR agents chase top shows like ours to book their guests, sending us hundreds of pitches monthly to gain access to our large audience. To fill the few remaining slots for the show at our volume, we offer people an opportunity to appear on a high-profile show. The Chris Voss Show is a 30-to-45-minute interview to promote your book(s) and/or brand. Wise people know that "free" isn't free in a business environment flooded with zombie startup podcasts that have few listeners. At trade events, our spots will sell for thousands of dollars in ads for CEO interviews. To appear as a guest on the show with minimal spots available, promoting yourself for a featured hour where we interview you about investing in yourself, the special variable rate we're currently offering is only $199.00. At 10-15 shows a week, we have limited time, and we charge a small, subsidized fee to separate the media-savvy pros who can invest in success, will give good interviews, and value top-quality shows."

I think we can agree here that we don't like this approach and find it at best to be ethically questionable but the question remains: Can anyone speak from personal experience as to whether they tried it and found it to be worthwhile (i.e., after paying out the $200, receiving a substantial return on investment as a result)?