Consumer WebWatch to put Consumers Union's investigative eye on web sites and e-commerce.

Founded with great fanfair about a year ago, Consumer Web Watch is a non-profit research project aimed at improving the credibility of online content by applying the respected products rating system of its parent, Consumers Union, to electronic-commerce sites' business, security and privacy policies.

This month Consumer Web Watch released its first research findings, which said that "consumer trust of web content is alarmingly low, with less than 30 percent of respondents saying they trust the information found on sites that sell products and services." (For highlights of the findings, go to www.consumerswebwatch.org.)

NL/NL asked Beau Brendler, director of Consumer WebWatch's Web Credibility Project, what the implications of the findings--and of Consumer WebWatch's work in general--might mean to online newsletter and specialized information publishers.

"Basically, people want better disclosure," he responded. Even visitors to business-to-business sites want to know who you are, where you are, what you do, and what your privacy policies are.

Consumer WebWatch has released "a core set of guidelines for web sites to improve the credibility of online information." Unlike some proclamation from above--from OSHA or the Academie Francaise, for example--these guidelines come from the people, survey research, and as a result of extensive review by CWW's diverse, 24-person advisory board drawn from academia, government, business, and the media.

Consumer Web Watch Guidelines

Newsletter publishers would do well to review their web sites and other online communications and commerce in light of these guidelines, even though they are principally oriented towards consumer sites. (They're also spelled out in more detail at the above web site.)

1. Identity Web sites should clearly disclose the physical location of where they are produced, including an address, a telephone number or e-mail address. Sites should clearly disclose their ownership, private or public, naming their parent company. Sites should clearly disclose their purpose and mission.

2. Advertising and Sponsorships. Sites should clearly distinguish advertising from news and information, using labels or other visual means. This includes "in-house" advertising or cross-corporate ad sponsorships.

3. Customer Service. Sites engaged in consumer transactions should clearly disclose relevant financial relationships with other sites, particularly when these relationships affect the cost to a consumer. Sites should clearly disclose all fees charged, including service, transaction fees, and S & H costs.

4. Corrections. Sites should diligently seek to correct false, misleading or incorrect information. Sites should prominently display a page or section of the site where incorrect information is corrected or clarified. Sites should strive to mark content with its published date when failing to do so could mislead consumers.

5. Privacy. Site privacy policies should be easy to find and clearly, simply stated. Sites should clearly disclose how personal data from site visitors and customers will be used. Personal data includes name, address, phone number and credit card number.

Consumer WebWatch believes web site readers should be able to find these policies easily, on an About Us" or "Site Center" page navigable from the home and other site pages.

e-Ratings

Using Consumers Union's proven methods of independent, unbiased, expert evaluations as pioneered by ConsumerReports.org, Consumer WebWatch will eventually rate e-commerce sites the way it has rated toasters and automobiles since 1936.

Consumers Union, 101 Truman Ave., Yonkers, NY 10703, 914-378-2600, fax [phone].

Project director Beau Brendler con be reached at [e-mail].