From the President: Protecting Your Buying Power

In a lot of ways, there’s never been a better time to be a consumer. We have an almost endless selection of products at our fingertips, and we can often have them delivered to our door in hours, if not minutes.

But this bonanza comes with its own challenges. It’s hard to know which products are truly worth our money or whether we should trust any of the companies competing relentlessly for our attention and dollars. And many of the same technologies that make shopping convenient—from algorithms that recommend what to buy to e-commerce platforms filled with third-party sellers—can expose us to unsafe goods, threaten our privacy, and charge us more than our neighbors for the very same things.

You deserve the benefits of today’s consumer ecosystem without the drawbacks—and we’re constantly working to tip the balance in your favor. We do that by testing thousands of products every year and then pointing you to the very best. We do it by helping you make confident decisions, whether you’re choosing the right Medicare plan or considering a do-it-yourself blood test to monitor your health. And we do it by urging companies and policymakers to put consumers first. In the past year, for example, we helped persuade e-commerce giant Temu to add a new recall alerts center to its platform, and Amazon to add dedicated information on its website warning of the flammability risk of children’s pajamas.

Whether we’re testing products, uncovering hidden risks, or championing stronger consumer protections, our mission is the same: to help you make smarter choices and build a marketplace that works for everyone.