One of my peeves over recent years has been ADSL Broadband comparison sites that purport to compare all ADSL Internet providers. The facts are, with one exception .... Broadband Choice at bc.whirlpool.net.au ... they don't compare all ISPs. The only advertise paid advertisers with whom they have a commercial arrangement. Some allow providers that don't have a commercial arrangement to list but they don't identify the ISP or provide any contact details meaning the information is effectively useless. You have to pay to have the company name and contact details listed. It means the person reviewing the site can either only find services provided by paid advertisers, not a comparison of all ISPs as usually purported.
To me this is false advertising. Recently the ACCC took action against an Energy comparison site Energy Watch.
Energy Watch had represented in its advertising that it compared the rates of all or many of the energy retailers in a person’s area when in fact the service it provided was to compare the rates of a person’s current energy retailer with those of the energy retailers with which Energy Watch has commercial agreements in place (referred to as its preferred suppliers).
Will be interesting to see if the ACCC does the same with Broadband Comparison sites.
