The ACCC has published Comparator websites: A guide for comparator website operators and suppliers covering all aspects of comparator services, including advertising and marketing. Background.

The guide was developed in response to concerns by the ACCC about a lack of transparency in terms of both the material on the operators’ websites and the commercial relationships behind-the-scenes.

The Guide discusses three key principles to assist operators and suppliers when making decisions about all aspects relating to the comparison service:

• Facilitate honest, like-for-like comparisons
• Be transparent about commercial relationships
• Clearly disclose who and what is being compared.

Like-for-like comparisons will normally involve the following:

• operators presenting results in descending order with the ‘best match’ to a consumer’s stated needs appearing at the top
• operators disclosing what is meant by a value ranking
• operators making accurate savings representations or claims
• operators having systems in place to ensure the accuracy and quality of product information
• operators disclosing any assumptions used when displaying search results
• suppliers providing timely and accurate information to operators.

Some categories of commercial relationships that could mislead or deceive consumers if they are not prominently disclosed
include:

• operators promoting or giving preference to the products of particular suppliers by displaying results on the basis of commercial relationships rather than the consumer’s stated preferences
• sales quotas affecting the promotion, recommendation and ranking of products, particularly in circumstances where the operator agrees to sell a specified number of a particular supplier’s products in a certain period.

The ACCC recommends that operators clearly and prominently differentiate ‘sponsored’ or ‘advertised’ products from the organic search results – for example, by using different colours and including a statement that the product is being ‘advertised’ or ‘sponsored’ – otherwise consumers are likely to be misled.
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The guide also covers:

• Independence of comparator website operators
• Fairness of algorithm results
• Information provided by call centres
• Nature and extent of comparisons
• Value rankings
• Representations about savings
• Timeliness and accuracy of information