Societal dimensions of third-party evaluation of Internet health content.

Rating and certification of Internet health content have been suggested as strategies to guide citizens to high quality information. Attempts to rate Internet content, however, have been criticised for being unfeasible or undesirable. We created and tested a novel concept and technology to evaluate online health resources. In this paper, we view various societal issues and suggest solutions whenever possible. Rating and certification of Internet content should be preceded by a consideration and discussion that has many societal dimensions.