WOT: Web of Trust
Encyclopedia
Web of Trust is a community-based website reputation rating
tool that uses a traffic-light style rating system to give Internet users additional information about a website before they visit it. WOT allows users to add their input on the categories of trustworthiness, vendor reliability, privacy and child safety of a website based on their experience with the site and/or services they offer. The rating scale ranges from poor to excellent and is algorithmic. It calculates the reputation of a website through a combination of user ratings and data from other sources.
such as Google
, an icon appears beside each link. The icon colors are green, yellow, red or gray. Green indicates a good rating in all categories, yellow indicates a mixed rating, red indicates a poor rating, and gray indicates there is not enough data for a rating.
The Website Security Scorecard was introduced with WOT version 3. The scorecard shows data on popularity, a link to the WHOIS
domain entry, detailed rating information with graphics, and a section for user comments and references. The references come from negative sources such as phishing
or positive sources like Digg
.
I September 2008 Mywot.com introduced a mass rating tool which allowed users to leave the same comment on 100 sites at a time. See http://www.mywot.com/wiki/Mass_rating_tool The results, according to critics, are thousands of identical comments which have no relation to the site they are actually commenting on. Critics say these "spam" comments remain on the boards unmoderated for years.
Also, despite claims from the site’s administrators that the ratings system is a combination of data received from trusted sources and user ratings, the “community ratings are still its main source.” The accuracy of the resulting ratings depends on the accuracy of the submitted opinions.
The reliance on user generated content has led critics to believe that there is potential for users to manipulate the system, because ratings can be submitted to the add-on without having to first register an account. WOT assigns a pseudonym
for each add-on and requires strong authentication
for each rating. Critics of the system contend that this user participation leads to bias
ed ratings, especially with concern to political topics.
The specifics of the Web of Trust meritocracy
system has not been made public, but the site’s administrators will say that it’s not frequent usage alone that determines user levels, but also a reliability factor. The reliability factor is based on statistical modeling that tells how well a user’s ratings match up with the majority of other trusted reviewers who have rated the same sites. This has opened the site up to criticism that a pack mentality
then exists, and that in order to increase in levels new users must go along with what the community has already rated a particular site.
Mywot.com also has been criticized for allowing users to post untrue comments and negative ratings for which there may be no rational basis, and for removing positive comments intended to mitigate the negative ones.
Further criticism of WOT exists over the manner in which they handle free hosting providers. Free hosting sites are often abused and consequently harbor a lot of spam and malware sites. This leads to the domain being rated poorly (often by many thousands or even millions of users). As websites inherit their domains WOT rating, any website hosted on a free hosting provider will have a poor rating and a warning displayed about it whether it is justified or not.
filed a lawsuit against Web of Trust for defamation, violating rights, conspiracy and manipulating algorithms. The companies requested that Web of Trust remove ratings and comments that relate to them.
According to the Vesa P. (current CEO of WOT Services Ltd.), the next step in the ongoing lawsuit
- which was filed by Career Network Inc. et al - is an oral hearing which will take place in Orlando
on August 9th, 2011.
The privacy policy states "Specifically for the WOT Safe Search, API calls may be sent to Canyon
to determine if there are any refinements for your query."
The privacy policy does not state however, how the new partnership with Facebook
will impact user tracking, behavioral advertising or related implementations. Both MyWot as well as Facebook do know about all outgoing links posted at and visited from Facebook. How they handle this knowledge and related data is unknown.
. Facebook will integrate the Web of Trust data into its site to warn users of potentially harmful external links posted on users' walls or news feeds.
Website Reputation Ratings
A Website Reputation Rating Program warns the user what website is good, may be good or bad, or green, yellow, red. These programs are usually installed as an Add-on and is used and displayed while using a search engine...
tool that uses a traffic-light style rating system to give Internet users additional information about a website before they visit it. WOT allows users to add their input on the categories of trustworthiness, vendor reliability, privacy and child safety of a website based on their experience with the site and/or services they offer. The rating scale ranges from poor to excellent and is algorithmic. It calculates the reputation of a website through a combination of user ratings and data from other sources.
Rating symbols
After using a search engineSearch engine
A search engine is an information retrieval system designed to help find information stored on a computer system. The search results are usually presented in a list and are commonly called hits. Search engines help to minimize the time required to find information and the amount of information...
such as Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
, an icon appears beside each link. The icon colors are green, yellow, red or gray. Green indicates a good rating in all categories, yellow indicates a mixed rating, red indicates a poor rating, and gray indicates there is not enough data for a rating.
Website security scorecard
WHOIS
WHOIS is a query and response protocol that is widely used for querying databases that store the registered users or assignees of an Internet resource, such as a domain name, an IP address block, or an autonomous system, but is also used for a wider range of other information. The protocol stores...
domain entry, detailed rating information with graphics, and a section for user comments and references. The references come from negative sources such as phishing
Phishing
Phishing is a way of attempting to acquire information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. Communications purporting to be from popular social web sites, auction sites, online payment processors or IT...
or positive sources like Digg
Digg
Digg is a social news website. Prior to Digg v4, its cornerstone function consisted of letting people vote stories up or down, called digging and burying, respectively. Digg's popularity prompted the creation of copycat social networking sites with story submission and voting systems...
.
I September 2008 Mywot.com introduced a mass rating tool which allowed users to leave the same comment on 100 sites at a time. See http://www.mywot.com/wiki/Mass_rating_tool The results, according to critics, are thousands of identical comments which have no relation to the site they are actually commenting on. Critics say these "spam" comments remain on the boards unmoderated for years.
Rating quality and criticism
The rating system for websites utilized by the Web of Trust has received criticism. Independent reviews of the site have found that results for websites are not reported in real time and ratings are slow to catch up with some harmful sites and therefore leaving users vulnerable, especially children for sites that have not been graded for child safety.Also, despite claims from the site’s administrators that the ratings system is a combination of data received from trusted sources and user ratings, the “community ratings are still its main source.” The accuracy of the resulting ratings depends on the accuracy of the submitted opinions.
The reliance on user generated content has led critics to believe that there is potential for users to manipulate the system, because ratings can be submitted to the add-on without having to first register an account. WOT assigns a pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
for each add-on and requires strong authentication
Authentication
Authentication is the act of confirming the truth of an attribute of a datum or entity...
for each rating. Critics of the system contend that this user participation leads to bias
Bias
Bias is an inclination to present or hold a partial perspective at the expense of alternatives. Bias can come in many forms.-In judgement and decision making:...
ed ratings, especially with concern to political topics.
The specifics of the Web of Trust meritocracy
Meritocracy
Meritocracy, in the first, most administrative sense, is a system of government or other administration wherein appointments and responsibilities are objectively assigned to individuals based upon their "merits", namely intelligence, credentials, and education, determined through evaluations or...
system has not been made public, but the site’s administrators will say that it’s not frequent usage alone that determines user levels, but also a reliability factor. The reliability factor is based on statistical modeling that tells how well a user’s ratings match up with the majority of other trusted reviewers who have rated the same sites. This has opened the site up to criticism that a pack mentality
Herd behavior
Herd behavior describes how individuals in a group can act together without planned direction. The term pertains to the behavior of animals in herds, flocks and schools, and to human conduct during activities such as stock market bubbles and crashes, street demonstrations, sporting events,...
then exists, and that in order to increase in levels new users must go along with what the community has already rated a particular site.
Mywot.com also has been criticized for allowing users to post untrue comments and negative ratings for which there may be no rational basis, and for removing positive comments intended to mitigate the negative ones.
Further criticism of WOT exists over the manner in which they handle free hosting providers. Free hosting sites are often abused and consequently harbor a lot of spam and malware sites. This leads to the domain being rated poorly (often by many thousands or even millions of users). As websites inherit their domains WOT rating, any website hosted on a free hosting provider will have a poor rating and a warning displayed about it whether it is justified or not.
Lawsuits
In February 2011 Ten companies in FloridaFlorida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
filed a lawsuit against Web of Trust for defamation, violating rights, conspiracy and manipulating algorithms. The companies requested that Web of Trust remove ratings and comments that relate to them.
According to the Vesa P. (current CEO of WOT Services Ltd.), the next step in the ongoing lawsuit
Lawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
- which was filed by Career Network Inc. et al - is an oral hearing which will take place in Orlando
Orlando
Orlando is a major city in the U.S. state of Florida.Orlando may also refer to-Places:* in Florida** Orlando, a major city** Greater Orlando, the 27th-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
on August 9th, 2011.
Privacy
Once installed, WOT (with its default settings) will send the hostname of any site the user visits to its home servers, where it will be recorded in the server logs. However, WOT claims to have a strict privacy policy. The website states, "The WOT add-on collects information only for computing website ratings, performing statistical analysis, and preventing abuse of our service. Any information that is no longer needed for these purposes is deleted."The privacy policy states "Specifically for the WOT Safe Search, API calls may be sent to Canyon
Canyon
A canyon or gorge is a deep ravine between cliffs often carved from the landscape by a river. Rivers have a natural tendency to reach a baseline elevation, which is the same elevation as the body of water it will eventually drain into. This forms a canyon. Most canyons were formed by a process of...
to determine if there are any refinements for your query."
The privacy policy does not state however, how the new partnership with Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
will impact user tracking, behavioral advertising or related implementations. Both MyWot as well as Facebook do know about all outgoing links posted at and visited from Facebook. How they handle this knowledge and related data is unknown.
Corporate partnerships
In May 2011 the administrators of the Web of Trust add-on announced a partnership with FacebookFacebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
. Facebook will integrate the Web of Trust data into its site to warn users of potentially harmful external links posted on users' walls or news feeds.
Critical Response
- Dukeo MYWOT Web Of Trust Review: Modern Web Totalitarism
- PC Magazine The WOT add-on is reviewed by Neil Rubenking
- Softpedia The WOT add-on is reviewed by Ionut Ilascu, Editor, Software Reviews
- BNET WOT is reviewed in BNET's Business Hacks by Rick Broida
- cnet.com WOT for Internet Explorer 20090414 received a 5 star rating based on a June 10, 2009 review by CNET staff.
- PC Welt The WOT add-on is recommended German PC Welt(a PC World publication)
- Gizmo Top Pick for Best Freeware Internet Security Check WOT won the top pick award at Gizmo's Best Freeware Internet Security Check
- Recommended at Firefox Add-ons WOT is on the recommended add-ons rotation since July 2008 at MozillaMozillaMozilla is a term used in a number of ways in relation to the Mozilla.org project and the Mozilla Foundation, their defunct commercial predecessor Netscape Communications Corporation, and their related application software....
's Firefox Add-onsMozilla Add-onsMozilla Add-ons is the official Mozilla Foundation website to act as a repository for add-ons for Mozilla software, including Mozilla Firefox, Mozilla Thunderbird, SeaMonkey, and Mozilla Sunbird. These add-ons include extensions, themes, dictionaries, search bar "search engines," and plugins...
website. - Ripoff Reports The WOT add-on is negatively reviewed by some users