Comparison Websites - Beware

Hezzawithkids

This may not come as much of a surprise to some, but yesterday I had it confirmed to me by a market researcher that comparison websites such as moneysupermarket.com and their like are not - repeat not - independent, i.e. the results they return are not completely objective or unbiased. Shock! Horror!

As I said, probably no surprise to some and something I'd always suspected. However, at work yesterday I sat in a market research debrief where the researcher confirmed that the company I currently work for (I'm a contractor so I have no particular axe to grind) pays ££££'s every year (and I'm talking £millions) to make sure that they always appear in the top 3 search results on a number of so-called comparison websites. I'm a cynical old g*t at the best of times but even I was outraged by this.

Say, for instance, you are looking for a cheap broadband deal. You'd input your details and requirments and hit SEARCH. You'll then get a list of providers shown ranked in order of preference, maybe even with the word "recommended" flashing next to one or more of them.

Take these results with a huge pinch of salt and massive dose of healthy cynicism. They are driven by which company has paid the site the most to display their name a the top of the results that hour/day/week/month. The list bears no relation whatsoever to what is best for you. Companies like BT for example (NOT the company I work for in case you were wondering) have very deep pockets when it comes to advertising budgets and buy their way to the top 3 results (if not the top) continuously. There are even "bidding wars" to get your name at the top on key word searches.

Not every site is the same; a search engine like Google for example is very transparent about companies paying them to display them in results by labelling them as "sponsored links". However, even then the non-sponsored results returned on page one will most likely have been "bought". What I am describing however are comparison websites (or screen scapers) like moneysupermarket.com, confused.com etc etc.

Verdict: don't believe everything you read. Use these sites to get a list of companies selling the services you need by all means, but don't assume that the site you got them from are acting in your best interests. Far from it, they are being paid (a lot) to tell you who is "best" by the companies themselves. If you can, take the time to research the market yourself and reach your own conclusions about the best deal for you.

There, I've said it!! I have done an MSE search on this topic but can't see anything related to it so if it's been discussed in the past, apologies. Doesn't hurt to be reminded though.

[Deleted User]

Hezzawithkids wrote: »

However, even then the non-sponsored results returned on page one will most likely have been "bought". What I am describing however are comparison websites (or screen scapers) like moneysupermarket.com, confused.com etc etc.

I'm not convinced about non-sponsored results been "bought". Most of these sites have some affiliation and hence have these links at the top but most distinguish between these and the rest.

Hezzawithkids wrote: »

they are being paid (a lot) to tell you who is "best" by the companies themselves.

They can tell me whatever they want in terms of who's the best but I'll simply go on the quotes I'm given and the cheapest available.

As with all things don't just believe one source of information.

Related articles on this site:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/

RichyRich

Some search engines (certainly Yahoo! and msn) used to put sponsored links at the top without distinguishing whether they were sponsored or not. No idea whether they still do, though.