SiteAdvisor, a New Approach to Safer Internet
When internet became public and people started using it, you could never think that so many scams and rip off artists will abuse the internet to cheat people. Thousands of scam websites start working everyday, cheat thousands of internet users and become disappeared after a few weeks.
It is hard and almost impossible to control all website and their activities and it needs billions of dollars to create an organization that supervises website activities and closes scam and spam websites.
Have you ever thought about such an organization? How many employees, computers, buildings and … it needs to be able to control all the active and newbie websites everyday? It is impossible to create such an organization.
So what is the solution? Should scammers feel free to cheat people over the internet? Should identity thieves be able to spread millions of viruses and spyware everyday and steal internet users identity? Definitely not.
So what is the solution?
Yes, internet can be controlled by internet users. If internet is supposed to be controlled and supervised, who is better than internet users to do that? Millions of internet users surf billions of web pages everyday, read what it is written on them, watch the photos and videos. They are the best to judge about websites and warn others about bad websites. They can easily do it for free. They will be happy to express their ideas about any website they visit.
This is what that SiteAdvisor is based on it. SiteAdvisor which is owned by the famous anti-virus software developer, McAfee, is a free service to help internet users to know about the websites that they want to visit, sign up and order products. It informs you about the background of a website and if other users like it or not. If it is a spammer, adware and spyware distributor website, a website with a lot of popups that makes your browser paralyzed, or a website that people are not happy with the products and services it sells.
How it works?
Internet users just sign up as reviewers and then will be able to vote and leave a comment for the websites they visit. SiteAdvisor has made it so easy. By installation of the McAfee SiteAdvisor Plug-in to your internet browser, you will be able to vote for any website you visit and see all the comments and votes that the SiteAdvisor reviewers have already posted for it.
Additionally, the SiteAdvisor tests websites automatically and makes sure that they are good websites.
When you install the McAfee SiteAdvisor Plug-in, a small button will be appeared on your browser toolbar. When you visit a good website, the button is green. When you visit a bad website, the button is red and when you visit a website that is not tested by the SiteAdvisor yet, the button is gray. By clicking on the button, you will have access to the website information and you will be able to go to the page where you can vote and post a comment for the website.
When you visit a bad website, for example a website that distributes viruses and spyware, the button will be in red and also a warning message will be appeared:
That’s not all. By installation of the McAfee SiteAdvisor Plug-in, a safety rating sign will be appeared in front of each of the links on the search result pages, when you search with Google, Yahoo or MSN.
In addition to the automatic systems and internet users votes and comments, SiteAdvisor staff check websites and make sure that they comply the rules. For example, the SiteAdvisor staff leave this message for the scam and get rich quick websites: “When we visited this site, we found one or more misleading claims about work-at-home opportunities”.
Such websites become categorized among suspected websites that you should be careful about them.
Now the question is “Are all the websites that are categorized as good and reliable websites by SiteAdvisor, really good and reliable?”
If you want to make an order with a website that is known as a reliable website by SiteAdvisor, you should check the SiteAdvisor report page for that website and see what tests they have made on it. New websites, are just tested for virus and spyware, popup and linking to bad websites but they are no checked by none of the SiteAdvisor staff and also users have not submitted any comment about them. So, you need to be careful.
Help the internet to become a safe place for everybody!
Please join the SiteAdvisor, install its plug-in on your browser and when you visit a website that you think can be harmful for internet users, post a comment about it and warn others. Also, if you see that a website is good and reliable, for example you have made an order with it and you are happy with the products or services you have received from them, or when a website has good and helpful information, support it by adding a positive review for it on SiteAdvisor.
In near future SiteAdvisor will become so popular and internet users will rely on it. When they search with search engines, they will take a look at the SiteAdvisor reviews before they click on a link and go to the website. Phishy websites will be known before anybody visit them and to be cheated by them. And each and everyone of the internet users, including you, can be a big help to achieve this.
Sign up to become a SiteAdvisor reviewer. It is free and will not take more than a few minutes. There is no catch and also I will NOT make any commission if you join the SiteAdvisor. I just want this good service to become popular as soon as possible.
My main concern is that you can’t guarantee every page of your website will be included in the SERPs. Considering I’m constantly adding new products to my company’s website, I need to be sure that customers can find them as soon as possible.
I hate scammers. Excellent article you have here about Internet safety.
I love your site and intend to visit often. Thanks