Rebuttal response by WOT employee:
> But WOT actively rewards users who specialize in giving negative reports.
Users who give negative ratings are not treated any differently from others.
> Some of their top-rated users have done tens of thousands of negative reports, and it is obvious they are not really rating sites accurately
Many of the most active users are focused on investigating Internet scams, which explains why they primarily leave negative comments.
> WOT’s own statistics show that the overwhelming majority of ratings are negative.
You are looking at the comment statistics. Comments aren’t ratings and 90% of all websites have a good reputation. You can learn about the difference here:
http://www.mywot.com/wiki/FAQ#Ratings_vs._comments
> The developers of WOT are in the business of selling security seals for websites, so they have a vested interest in making website owners afraid of negative ratings.
WOT sells trust seals to websites that have earned a good reputation and thus has no vested interest in rating sites poorly:
http://www.mywot.com/wiki/FAQ#Selling_trust_seals_means_reputations_can_be_bought
> At the same time, there are a number of dangerous or fraudulent sites which have no ratings or good ratings from WOT.
Do you have examples? Also read this:
http://www.mywot.com/wiki/FAQ#But_I_don.27t_agree_with_a_reputation.21
> Then, when you realize that this plug-in is worse than useless and uninstall it, it is never really completely uninstalled, but leaves hidden traces behind, in the same way that spyware does.
The add-on is not spyware. It’s currently recommended by Mozilla, Google, and Opera and the source code is available for anyone to examine:
http://www.mywot.com/wiki/FAQ#The_add-on_is_spyware_or_adware
> Stay away from this terrible product.
Here’s a different point of view from someone who isn’t anonymous:
“Browsing the Web with the Web of Trust extension gives a completely different sense of security,” said Christen Krogh, Chief Development Officer, Opera. “Instead of browsing alone, you have millions of people helping point out what sites are trustworthy, are safe for your children, and respect your privacy. No matter how you use the Web, Web of Trust is an essential tool to browse safely in today’s sometimes uncertain environment.”
http://www.opera.com/press/releases/2011/01/27/
yes, I do have an example. Our church’s website has been classified by your service as follows:
Trustworthiness - unsatisfactory
Vendor Reliability - poor
Privacy - very poor
Child Safety - very poor
I am sure that you can see three of the four categories are not even relevant to a church. This is obviously the result of someone with an illegitimate agenda.