Online store performance ratings company BizRate launched what it calls "the Web's first unbiased recommendation engine" for shoppers, called SmartSearch.

"We are providing online shoppers with an innovative tool for finding the best online store based on their specific needs, each time they buy online." said Farhad Mohit, president and CEO of BizRate.com.

Smart Search, which draws upon BizRate.com's online store ratings, recommends the stores that best meet an online shoppers personal needs.

It allows shoppers to find specific products at over 1,900 online e-businesses, comparing these vendors, not only on price but also on other dimensions of service such as payment options, product selection, availability, on-time delivery, gift services, and return services.

"As the online retail market matures, there needs to be a way for consumers to differentiate vendors by more than just price. BizRate.com's innovative Smart Search is the only tool to take all factors of the total customer experience into account before making a recommendation," said Mohit.

BizRate.com is offering a free membership program to site visitors. Members are given a "spam -free" e-mail address to use whenever they are shopping online and are entitled to rebates of up to 25 percent on purchases made through BizRate.com.

These rebates come in the form of affiliate fees that vendors offer BizRate.com for referred purchases.

"To maintain our neutrality, BizRate.com has never and will never accept affiliate fees from vendors. However, by taking the fees and rebating them to members on our site, we are able to keep our neutrality while doing online consumers a great service and positioning BizRate.com as the Web's most consumer-centric shopping resource," said Mohit.

The company will also offer members a BizRate.com Visa card designed specifically for online shopping by NextCard.