http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB991751206218456874.htm # # June 21, 2001 # # Consumers Union Project Aims # To Rate Credibility of Web Sites # # By STEPHANIE MILES # WSJ.COM # # Consumers Union, long a trusted name in rating consumer products, # offers online shoppers a window into electronic-commerce sites' # business, security and privacy policies. Now the group wants # to measure another critical component of a Web site: credibility. # # The Web Credibility Project, launched earlier this month, will # focus on how health, travel, advocacy, news and shopping sites # disclose business relationships with the companies and products # they cover or sell, especially when these relationships pose # a potential conflict of interest. Eventually, the group hopes # to draft credibility guidelines to be integrated into # ConsumerReports.org (www.consumerreports.org), the online entity # of Consumer Reports. # # The group has some lofty goals, such as targeting drug companies # who fail to adequately inform consumers about side effects and # indications for drugs promoted online. But it also will focus # on more mundane issues, such as convincing shopping and e-commerce # sites to display business addresses and phone numbers prominently. # # "It's about trying to find a way to get major media and major # e-commerce folks -- people who have a real stake in making sure # the Web is a credible place to do business -- to agree to a set # of standards," says Beau Brendler, director of the project. Mr. # Brendler was previously editorial director at Walt Disney Co. # Internet Group's ABCNews.com. # # While praising the motives behind Consumers Union's latest effort, # some wonder if credibility can be evaluated as easily as everyday # consumer goods such as cars and appliances. # # "Transparency, as a rule, is a good thing. How you actually # accomplish that, I don't know," says Wendell Cochran, director # of the journalism division at American University in Washington, # D.C. "It should be incumbent on a site to give as much information # as they could about who they are. But beyond that, credibility # comes out of a company's performance over a long period of time." # # Open Disclosure # # In devising a set of voluntary standards for Web sites, the # project aims to tackle concerns that consumers browsing cyberspace # don't always see potential conflicts of interest between Web-site # operators and the information they present. # # Consider ibreathe.com (www.ibreathe.com). At first glance, # ibreathe appears to be an independent health-information site, # serving up advice about asthma, allergies and other respiratory # ailments, but visitors have to scroll to the bottom of the page # to learn that the site is operated by GlaxoSmithKline PLC. # Consumers interested in asthma medications, for example, are # provided with information on GlaxoSmithKline drugs. # # GlaxoSmithKline believes the site is clear about its ties to # the drug company. # # "The sponsorship is apparent when one goes to the Web site," # says Lisa Behrens, a spokeswoman for GlaxoSmithKline, noting # that GlaxoSmithKline is a member of the Internet Healthcare # Coalition, which is focused on online ethics for health-infor # mation sites. "There is nothing that in anyway suggests that # this is third-party or independent information," Ms. Behrens # says. # # Still, the company is open to the suggestions of the Web # Credibility Project. "If there's any entity -- Consumers' Union # or others -- who has feedback or suggestions for GlaxoSmithKline, # I'm sure we'd welcome it," Ms. Behrens says. # # But the question of how to come to a consensus on credibility # issues can be tricky. Another example offered by Consumers Union's # Mr. Brendler is the Web site of Keep America Beautiful # (www.kab.org). Mr. Brendler calls Keep America Beautiful an # example of an "astroturf" site -- one that looks like a # grass-roots organization's Web outpost, but is in fact backed # by a corporate or advocacy group. # # Mr. Brendler's prescription for making KAB.org more credible # is for the site to more prominently link to or display the names # of its corporate backers, which Mr. Brendler says include "200 # companies that manufacture aluminum cans, paper goods, glass # bottles and plastics," such as Bethlehem Steel Corp., American # Forest & Paper Association, Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., # Pacific Gas & Electric and Philip Morris Cos. # # Walt Amacker, vice president and director of communications at # Keep America Beautiful, disagrees that KAB.org is disingenuous # about its backers. The site does include a comprehensive and # easy-to-find list of donors, accessible by two mouse clicks, # he says, which includes "anybody who's given any money through # corporations or foundations through January 2001." # # Although the sponsorship information may not be accessible where # most visitors would expect it to be -- under the heading "About # KAB," for example -- the group does provide a detailed list of # its corporate backers in the section of the site devoted to # fund-raising. # # KAB has never shied away from revealing its corporate backers, # Mr. Amacker says, because part of the purpose of the nonprofit # group is to educate communities about how to prevent litter, # toxic dumping and other misuse of industrial products. Mr. Amacker # points out that KAB was rated "most credible" in a 1998 survey # of environmental organizations conducted by Wirthlin Worldwide, # a research and consulting group. # # Standards Needed # # The idea for creating a set of credibility standards grew out # of a panel discussion at a 1998 conference sponsored by the # Project for Excellence in Journalism and Pew Charitable Trusts. # # Consumers Union received $4.8 million in grants to launch the # Web Credibility Project, including $2.7 million from Pew # Charitable Trusts, $2 million from the Knight Foundation and # $100,000 from the Open Society Institute. # # Consumers Union has shown it understands the online world, # launching ConsumerReports.org in 1997. Online subscriptions cost # $24 a year or $3.95 a month; subscribers to Consumer Reports # magazine are charged an additional $19 a year for the online # version. The site has more than 560,000 subscribers, making it # one of the more successful premium online properties. # # Lately, the site has been branching out, offering its reports # through e-commerce sites such as Amazon.com Inc., CNET Networks # Inc. and Yahoo Inc. # # There are already a variety of services, including comparison # -shopping guides such as BizRate.com Inc. and nonprofit # consumer-protection organizations like the Better Business # Bureau's BBBOnline, that are dedicated to promoting responsibility # online. # # BizRate, which provides its e-commerce ratings information to # ConsumerReports.org, says it is in favor of the new project and # doesn't see it interfering with its own services. For the month # of May, Bizrate.com received about 6.2 million unique visitors, # while ConsumerReports.org had about one million visitors, # according to Jupiter Media Metrix. # # The Web Credibility Project intends to go beyond ratings. The # group also plans to launch a Web site later this year, name an # advisory board of journalists and e-commerce experts, work with # groups such as the Online News Association and give out annual # awards recognizing the most credible sites on the Web. # # Online vs. Offline World # # Still, measuring and regulating the credibility of Internet sites # by asking companies to voluntarily comply with guidelines is # a thorny issue, as the disagreement between Messrs. Brendler # and Amacker over the credibility of the Keep America Beautiful # site illustrates. # # Although voluntary standards can "help set a tone," American # University's Mr. Cochran says, ultimately each site is responsible # for its own reputation. "You can put a seal of approval on # something, but it wouldn't mean anything until enough time had # passed, and enough circumstances had been experienced, for people # to make up their minds." # # The goal of getting sites to voluntarily disclose business # relationships is laudable, but runs the risk of holding online # publishers to a higher standard than offline ones, adds Phil # Brooks, a professor at the Missouri School of Journalism, who # notes that most movies include paid placement of products without # disclosing the financial relationship between the studio and # the product maker. # # "It would be good if there was full, open disclosure of these # kind of marketing practices," Mr. Brooks says. "But as a reality # I don't see that businesses that use online services and digital # media are going to adopt standards that are different than the # standards that are being followed in traditional media."