Is cnet.com Safe?

I hate this site. It's the same thing as Softonic with the downloads. They use free software to slip in their toolbars, startup-websites and software no one wants. The creators of the freeware don't get appreciated, because they don't see that people like and download their stuff. Ethical issues big time.

My favorite tech website. Very informative about the latest tech news, and there are also some great blogs from the people who work at CNET. I love the many tech shows they have, very funny and awesome. May not be for children, but is ideal for young people who want the latest tech news.

Normally a good site. However, have rated sites as c|net as a group less safe for children as even otherwise savvy parents are duped into installing unwanted toolbars such as WebSearch when downloading otherwise safe and clean products from vendors. Links at vendor pages are not direct; often confusing as to which download link a visitor will want, as there are as many as five in total on a web download page. Best Practices would say to only go directly to vendor download page only. That way you cannot get additional stuff you may consider to be malware or viruses.

CNET does not check their sponsors or links. I have downloaded viruses from this website. I then started checking their links against web of trust and found that almost all of the links are not trusted in WOT. If you click on a link in CNET and go through a search engine where you google the link, you will find that most of them have a malicious rating. CNET should be testing their vendor links to ensure they don't have malware and virus settings.