Site Advisor giving bad rating to good websites
The company known as “Smart PC Solutions”, a software developer that produces a range of ‘solutions’ for pc optimization has received a negative ranking through Mcafee’s Site Advisor, along with a plethora of other websites, most being left in the dark as to why they received the negative review. This causes monetary damage to companies who have received a bad ranking, whilst at the same time distributing money to McAffee through selling its software to users who are being wrongly informed of supposed dangers.
This is a perfect example of an unfair advantage solely through destroying other company’s reputation.
Site Advisor rates a color for each site according ti whether the site is safe. Sometimes this is according to the average of user comments on the particular website, whilst other times it may be based on something else, such as the presence of adware or spyware on the website. A red cross states the presence of a virus or spyware on the rated site. Whilst this may serve as an effective warning if implemented without bias, the problem lies in the fact that many companies who have posed as competition to Mcafee have been intentionally given a bad rating. “Smart PC Solutions” is one such example; a company which provides FREE software solutions. Whilst most of the customer reviews of this website indicate a positive experience, Mcafee have labeled them under “Bad Shopping Experience” for the sole reason that they provide free and useful software. This is an intentional deception by Mcafee.
As a word of warning, do not trust Site Advisor as a gospel of the evils of the internet. It often only takes one negative perception of your company or website for Site Advisor to label your website with a big red cross. There is a warning for all here to be careful when using supposedly helpful spyware products.