Frequently Asked Questions

• Who is BizRate.com?
  
• What is an Online Survey?
  
• How do I become a panelist?
  
• If I agree to be a panelist, how can I change my email address or request to be removed?
  
• Why do I need to complete a Registration Survey to join?
  
• How am I notified if I am selected to participate in a study?
  
• When I get an invitation to participate in one of your panel surveys, I can't link to the survey from your email. Why?
  
• Which e-mail address should I use to participate in your research?
  
• Are there incentives given for participation?
  
• What if I have more questions?
  

Founded in 1996, BizRate.com is the largest, fastest and most accurate shopping search engine on the Web. With an index of over 30 million product offers from more than 40,000 stores, BizRate.com uses ShopRank™, a proprietary shopping search algorithm, to produce the industry's most relevant search results by weighing price, popularity and availability of products, against the reputations of merchants that sell them. At the heart of ShopRank™ are BizRate.com's signature merchant and product ratings, collected from more than one million online buyers each month, making them the most reliable ratings on the Web. Every week, the BizRate.com shopping search engine prepares millions of shoppers to make smarter, more confident purchases and sends them directly to the checkout page of thousands of online merchants.

Back to top

An Online Survey is a survey that you complete at your convenience once you receive an invitation from us. It is a fun, fast and effective way to communicate your thoughts and opinions. The results are electronically transferred to us upon completion. Your impact on the marketplace is immediate.

Back to top

To join the BizRate.com Online Research Panel, all you need to do is complete and submit the Registration Survey. Remember: you only need to register once.

Back to top

If you have completed a BizRate.com survey and have requested to be part of future research projects, we will store your information in our proprietary database so that we may call upon it to determine which people match up with specific research studies. If you wish to change the email address you originally provided, please visit www.bizrate.com/panel/change_email.html. If you would like to be removed from our mailing list, simply click on www.bizrate.com/panel/opt_out.html and enter the original email address you provided during the survey.

Back to top

There are certain types of information that are necessary to be able to select surveys that are best suited for you or your household, e.g., demographics (gender, age, etc.) and geographical location.

We need to summarize and analyze any research information we collect by these demographics, geographics and technographics in order for the research information to have meaning.

Back to top

If you are chosen to participate in a survey, we will send you an e-mail message inviting you to participate. We will provide you with the URL of the survey site and information about the study.

Back to top

If you are using AOL or a non-HTML-enabled email program, you may experience difficulty or the inability to click through the survey link in our email invitation. If this link does not work, please copy and paste the URL of the survey link into the address line of your web browser.

Back to top

We recommend that you use your PRIMARY e-mail address. By primary, we mean the one address you use and access most often.

Back to top

YES!! With many of our studies, we hold cash or prize drawings. All panelists who participate - from whom we receive a completed survey and meet eligibility requirements of that survey - are eligible for a chance to win the prize associated with that particular study. Participation is, of course, voluntary. One of the best incentives for participating in BizRate.com's Online Research is the influence you will have in a rapidly changing marketplace and the better products, sites and services you will help to create as a result of your participation.

Back to top

If you can't find the answer to your questions or would like to share your comments, email Laura Miller, Director of the BizRate.com Online Research Panel at: