For a printable PDF version of this press release, click here . Consumers want to be the final judge in distinguishing good sites from bad sites but still lack the tools to do so. Additionally, they are unaware that these sites are tracking their movements. Nearly half of all adults who registered with a health-related Web site did not look for privacy and confidentiality statements on the sites.
Consumers look for information that is presented in terms that a layperson can understand.
These measures of quality are less important to Web site developers, who are more likely than the online public to focus on professional standards. The public believes such standards are important, but they often cannot tell if they are being met. More than eight in 10 consumers feel that it is difficult to identify the sponsors or funders of specific sites. The public's apparent lack of discrimination may be a reflection of their lack of confidence in their own ability to evaluate quality or understand how quality is assured. Substantial percentages rely on their doctors to validate information, or they use multiple online searches as a means of validating information.