... Websitesisrapidlychanging.Threemonthsafter data werecollected,all24sitesstudiedremaininbusiness and continuetooffer a varietyof credit relatedservices.Whereasmostsitesremainunchanged,somehadalreadymademodificationstotheirservices,prices,ordisclosures.Itisthereforeimportantforthereadertoconsiderthesepossiblechanges.Thereareadditionalquestionsthisstudywasnotdesignedtoanswer.First, and mostbasic:Howmanyconsumers, and whichtypes,arepatronizingthevariouskindsof alternative credit reportingsites?Howsatisfiedaretheywiththeirpurchases?Someofthesitesthemselvessuggestthatbusinessisgood.Forexample,freecreditreport.comencouragesconsumersto“joinover20millionconsumerswhohavealreadycheckedtheirfreeExperian credit report.”(Thisvagueclaimhasseveralpossiblemeanings.Itcouldbeinterpretedtomean20millionpeoplehavepurchasedtheirreportfromfreeecreditreport.com;thisparticularsite and other alternative sites;orthissite,other alternative sites,plusannualcreditreport.com.)Page25 A secondsetofquestionsconcernsconsumers’interpretationofthevariousclaimspresentedon credit reporting ... –atleastthoseownedbyorcloselyconnectedtoEquifax,Experian, and Transunion–have a responsibilitytodisclose a consumer s righttoobtainfree credit reportsatannualcreditreports.com.Basedonthe24Websitesanalyzedinthisstudy,weidentified a varietyofgoodpracticesthat,takentogether,shouldconstitute a standardthatallsitesinthiscategoryshouldstrivetomaintain. ... Website(contrastLendingTree s carefulpracticeswiththevague“asseenonTV”statementsoffreecreditreport.com and privacymatters.com)9.Usingwellknown,thirdpartysealsofapprovaltoinstill consumer confidencein a site s privacy and securitypractices,especiallyinlightofthesensitivepersonalinformationrequestedbyWebsitesaspartoftheenrollmentprocess.10.Refrainingfromaskingirrelevantquestionssuchaswhether a personintendstobuy a houseorcarinthenextsixmonths,whichlikelywillbeusedtocollectmarketing data forotherproducts and services.Althoughnoneofthe24sitesmetalltencriteria,somearelivinguptothemajority.Threeofthebettersiteswerecreditreporting.com,eloan.com, and experian.com.Interestingly,thefirsttwoaremembersoftheExperian“family,”buttheothersixmembersoftheExperianfamilydonotfareaswell.Forexample,freebiecreditreport.comcontainstheword“free”initsname,usestheword“free”fortyeighttimesonitshomepage,discouragesconsumersfromusingannualcreditreport.com,isnotclearonthetypeof credit score a consumer willreceive,usesthevagueendorsementof“asseenin”Newsweek,USAToday, and TheWallStreetJournal, and providesneitheranemailaddressnor a geographicaddress....