Influence: Media, Search engines

It is not safe to go in the water.

In September, 2007, Google held the top spot in search engine market share with 57 percent according to comScore. Yahoo! Sites ranked second at 23.7 percent with Microsoft Sites third at 10.3.

Here are grades for the top-ten (out of 1000 results, the first ten should make sense) search engine results for various credit scoring search terms. Don't believe everything you read.

Search term: Credit score

MSN

1. FAIL - Credit score - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. See below.
2. FAIL - Credit score (United States) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. See below.
3. PASS - myFICO
4. PASS - myFICO
5. FAIL - CreditScore.com. Goofy. States "Average US Credit Score is 678," but that's not even the correct Fake-O PLUS average any more. See all the Fake-O FICO flim-flam phony figure fun.
6. FAIL - FreeCreditReport.com. Fake-O. Experian taking up more shelf-space with yet another web site.
7. FAIL - Credit.com Credit Score Compass. Shows scale 350-850 (FICO is 300-850). Score with "3-in-1 Credit Report & Score" is a Fake-O.
8. FAIL - Credit.com - Free 3-in-1 Credit Report & Credit Score. TransUnion Fake-O.
9. PASS - Credit Score FAQ pushing VantageScore. Experian takes up more shelf space.
10. FAIL - Experian. Synonymous with Fake-O. See below.

Yahoo!

1. FAIL - www.truecredit.com (TransUnion) - Ouch. The #1 spot on the search engine results page refers to a Fake-O. States that "the the credit score provided here is not a so-called FICO score." Annoying "virtual agent" that does not answer relevant questions.
2. PASS - equifax.com
3. FAIL - experian.com - See below.
4. PASS - myFICO
5. FAIL - Credit score - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - See below.
6. PASS - myFICO
7. FAIL - CreditReport.com - Fake-O. Can't get it together. Goofy.
8. FAIL - Credit score (United States) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - See below.
9. PASS - Howstuffworks "How Credit Scores Work"
10. FAIL - FRONTLINE (PBS) - Ambiguous. Confusing. Apparently, written (or, perhaps, updated) by committee. States, "Currently, you can obtain for a fee, your FICO score at myfico.com." Then, states, "However, starting December 1, 2004 consumers living in the western U.S. will have the right to order a free copy of their credit report under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)"
    
    Then, paragraphs later, in another section, finally states, "An updated version of the FCRA, signed into law by President George W. Bush in December 2003, requires CRAs to provide consumers a copy of their credit score at a 'fair and reasonable' fee."
    
    Calls consumer reporting agencies "credit reporting agencies (CRAs)."

Google

1. PASS - myFICO
2. PASS - www.myfico.com/CreditEducation/CreditScores.aspx
3. FAIL - Credit score - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. States, "The credit bureaus all have FICO alternatives: Equifax's ScorePower [sic], Experian's PLUS score, and Transunion's Credit score," but the Score Power score is the Equifax FICO. Lousy spelling.
4. FAIL - Credit score (United States) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. States, "According to Fair Isaac the median score is 723 (half of scores above and below) whereas according to Experian (using the Fair Isaac risk model) the average credit score is 678 (lowest scores are farther from the median than the highest scores)." Fair Isaac emphatically states that the average score is not 678, and never was.
5. FAIL - AnnualCreditReport.com. A total of 8 sentences on credit scores. Refers to Experian.com (where you can get a Fake-O score), but not to myFICO.com, the only place where you can get all three FICO scores.
6. FAIL - experian.com. Sells a Fake-O score called the PLUS score that is "not currently sold to lenders."
7. PASS - Howstuffworks "How Credit Scores Work"
8. FAIL - creditscoreok.com. "Plus, by this advanced day and age, everyone in the USA is entitled to request a free of charge credit scoring from the three top agencies that deal with credit reporting." Credit scores are not free. Pigeon English. Bogus physical address. California area code, yet South Carolina zip code. Not a student of history of the South.
9. FAIL - 9 ways to build a killer credit score -- MSN Money

   Major heading: "Establish checking and savings accounts."
   
   Banks accounts are not a FICO score factor.
   
   Also, advice: Keeping "credit use to less than 30% of your credit limits will help you get the best possible credit score"
   
   Fair Isaac states, "For FICO High Achievers the ratio of revolving balances to credit limits is 7%, on average." Also, Fair Isaac partner Suze Orman says, "The FICO brain trust says there is no specific number that qualifies as a 'good' ratio, just that lower is always better."

10. PASS - Beef up your credit score in 5 steps - MSN Money