The Internet has revolutionized the way in which both lay-people and health care professionals seek out and research information regarding health care topics and specific disease conditions.1 A recent report states that approximately 80% of adult Internet users have conducted searches online for health or medical information.2 With increasing accessibility to the internet and rising familiarity with search engines, this percentage continues to grow. Aside from accessibility and convenience, the Internet is superior to most paper-based medical resources due to the ease of updating information to reflect the most timely and current data.

The wealth of knowledge that can be obtained from the Internet however, has its drawbacks. Unfortunately, there is no control over what information can be accessed and anyone, from a physician to common layperson, can contribute information regardless of accuracy. This can lead to misinformation that ultimately results in mistakes and malpractice.3 In order to prevent this from occurring, websites should be critically analyzed to determine their validity, reliability, and credibility. This holds true for anyone using such information from a website, but especially for physicians. It is imperative for physicians to provide their patients with a means of evaluating different websites and using only the most reliable and precise sources to prevent medical misunderstandings. In doing so, patients will get a sense of empowerment over their condition, knowing that only the most relevant information is being provided to them. Therefore, physicians should improve their patients’ knowledge by supplying them with a list of highly reputable websites; an action commonly desired by patients according to recent studies.4,5 The guidelines for evaluating websites that provide information on cutaneous laser therapies are reviewed here.