The BBB is a private organization, not a government agency. It's also highly controversial and has recently been exposed by ABC, the NY Times, LA times and the Connecticut Attorney General for causing harm to both business owners and consumers through abusive marketing tactics, conflicts of interest and inconsistent and uneven application of its business ratings system.
Considerable confusion exists with the public about the fact that the BBB is not a governmental organization. Links to the BBB on sites like the FTC,gov and USA.gov only further this confusing while requiring the expenditure of taxpayer dollars-mu8ch of which come from the very businesses and consumers who may have been harmed by the BBB's practices.