Gwyneth Paltrow might be wishing she had never ventured into the world of online lifestyle advice.

Her new site, goop.com, has irritated commentators on both sides of the Atlantic who say that the pearls of wisdom she shares with us are, at best, rather general, and at worst downright smug.

“My life is good because I am not passive about it,” writes the Hollywood star in her mission statement. “I want to nourish what is real, and I want to do it without wasting time.”

Elizabeth Renzetti wrote in the Globe and Mail: ”Why is it called Goop? Perhaps ‘Any Old Load of Rubbish’ and ‘Learn From Me, Ungrateful Peasant’ were both taken.

“In essence, Gwyneth would like to reach down from her aerie in north London and show you how to live, and shop, meaningfully,” she continues. ”Except that the point is completely moot: You and I will never be six-foot tall blonde goddesses constructed entirely of lentils and self-righteousness.”

Maria Russo of the Los Angeles Times criticizes not only the content, but the format of the new site, which is on the web in preview form. Click on the six sections (make, go, get, do, be, see) and you get the same statement from Ms. Paltrow.

“It’s not just that apparently no one wants to take life direction from the girl who has it all,” writes Russo. “There are also some more basic technical problems, starting with the layout of the two-page site. It’s not clear why she bothered to put it up with so little content. It feels like something that won an award for Web design in 1998.”

Perhaps Paltrow and her team should be given more time to develop the site before the critics weigh in. Trouble is, in this day and age noone seems willing to wait.