Will Failure to Disclose Advertising Relationships Burst the Search Bubble?

Consumer Reports WebWatch Hosts First Ever "Truth or Consequence" Conference on Search and Health Information

Industry Execs, Consumer Advocates Address Issues in San Francisco on June 9th

YONKERS, NY, April 25, 2005: Executives from the search engine industry, consumer organizations and health Web sites will join Consumer Reports WebWatch for "Trust or Consequence: How Failure to Disclose Ad Relationships Threatens to Burst the Search Bubble," the second in a series of national conferences on Web credibility issues, Thursday, June 9, 2005 at the Claremont Resort & Spa in Berkeley, Calif.

To learn more about this free conference, speakers, agenda, and to register, go to: http://www.consumerwebwatch.org/dynamic/conferences-search-engines.cfm

"Our research has shown consumers see search engines as trusted friends guiding them to the real information they want," said Beau Brendler, director of Consumer Reports WebWatch. "Some search engines deserve that trust. Others abuse the relationship by pointing consumers to advertising, not real information. And a few are like fantasy machines, spitting out nothing but what someone’s paid to put in.

"Health information is of special concern," Brendler said. "Many consumers use search engines to find answers to critical questions about weight loss, pain management, things that affect their lives every day. They want the truth, not online versions of TV infomercials."

Free Open Forums
WebWatch will share new findings at its free, one-day conference from an update of its recent in-depth research report, "Searching for Disclosure." WebWatch will also debut ratings of the top twenty health information Web sites, in collaboration with the Health Improvement Institute of Bethesda, Md., assessing issues such as separation of advertising from editorial content, ease of use, privacy, security, degree of expertise, information sourcing and relevance. In an executive roundtable, industry leaders will share views on maintaining credibility and enhancing consumer trust online.

Don’t miss the opportunity to meet:
 
Matt Cutts, Google
Gary Ruskin, Commercial Alert
Jared Spool, Founding Principal, User Interface Engineering
Representatives from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission
Patricia Thomas, Knight Foundation Chair in Health Journalism, University of Georgia
Stephen Barrett, MD, Board Chairman, Quackwatch Inc.
Peter Goldschmidt, Health Improvement Institute
Tom Eng, VMD, MPH, President and Founder, eHealth Institute
Dan Thies, SEO Research Labs
Mike Moran, Distinguished Engineer and Manager of Site Architecture, IBM Corp., and author, Search Engine Marketing, Inc.
Joel Gurin, Executive Vice President, Consumers Union
Jorgen Wouters, Consultant, Consumer Reports WebWatch
Beau Brendler, Director, Consumer Reports WebWatch
...and more to be added before the date

The WebWatch Pledge
At the conference, Web publishers will have the chance to take the Consumer Reports WebWatch pledge to abide by a set of guidelines for Web site credibility. Those that comply will be listed on the WebWatch site and will be included in a national advertising campaign in 2005.

Registration
To guarantee your spot at the conference, register here: https://wwevents.org/?form=searchhealthreg

About Consumer Reports WebWatch
Consumer Reports WebWatch is the leader in investigative reporting on trust and credibility in the online marketplace. WebWatch uses the proven methods of Consumer Reports to produce comprehensive research, breakthrough conferences and serves as a daily resource of unbiased and trustworthy information. Its research agenda includes entire online marketplaces, such as travel, search, health, financial services and more. WebWatch is a project of Consumers Union and is funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and the Open Society Institute. WebWatch's investigative reports, articles and news are available to the general public at http://www.consumerwebwatch.org

About Consumers Union
Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports, is an expert, independent nonprofit organization whose mission is to work for a fair, just, and safe marketplace for all consumers and to empower consumers to protect themselves. To achieve this mission, we test, inform, and protect. To maintain our independence and impartiality, CU accepts no outside advertising, no free test samples, and has no agenda other than the interests of consumers. CU supports itself through the sale of its information products and services, individual contributions, and a few noncommercial grants. Consumer Reports content can be found online at ConsumerReports.org. Consumers Union's public policy work can be found online at ConsumersUnion.org.

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