Participants sought online smoking-cessation resources because they were convenient, timely, and anonymous. However, the quality of online health information is variable and the ranking of Web sites on commercial search engines is often influenced by money, not quality [14]. Despite these issues, consumers value online information and resources but cannot always find the information they need in a timely efficient manner, partly because they utilize simple search strategies and commercial search engines. However, these consumers were unsure how to assess the quality of online health information.
Our results are strikingly similar and directly support those of a recently-published paper examining how German consumers search for and appraise general health information on the Web [15]. However, our study is limited to an examination of the views of a small group of online health seekers who accessed the Quit® Web site and therefore may not reflect the experiences of the wider community of Australian smokers. Despite this limitation, the study demonstrated that the methodological design was feasible and these results provide a useful starting point to inform future research examining online consumer behavior. We intend to recruit a larger number of consumers for future studies using advertisements placed in Australian metropolitan and rural newspapers, in addition to the Quit® Web site and information packs.