Consumer Reports Webwatch

Description

Consumer Reports WebWatch at Consumers Union, the non-profit publisher of Consumer Reports magazine and ConsumerReports.org, acknowledges these organizations that helped create us: The Pew Charitable Trusts, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and the Open Society Institute. Through research, the promotion of guidelines for best practices and other means, we seek to improve the credibility of content on the World Wide Web. We use methods developed by Consumer Reports magazine, including its editorial staff and statistics department, and by ConsumerReports.org for its successful e-Ratings of sites, to rate Web sites on categories that will include: disclosure of transaction fees and business partnerships relevant to consumers; how clearly sites tell consumers what their privacy policies are, and whether they disclose how data collected from the consumer will be used; how clearly and consistently Web sites label advertising, and whether they clearly separate editorial content from advertising, "advertorials," advertising supplements and the like; and other categories. Through research and analysis, we have developed and will continue to develop more in-depth guidelines for specific sectors of the Web. These sectors have included travel Web sites, search engines, auto insurance sites, and health sites; they will include financial and children's sites and others as the project continues.

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