Extensive evaluations of recent Goddard earth models against independent data generally confirm previous GEM accuracy estimates as conservative. Tests with new Seasat altimetric and surface gravimetric data as well as previous unused satellite jumped harmonics and accelerations and independent optical/laser solutions all suggest that the geoid errors in the sattelite only GEM-12 (1982) may be as low as 20 cm (rms worldwide) through degree and order 6 and only 110 cm through degree and order 20. The GEM 10B (1981) geoid appears to be accurate to better than 150-cm rms through degree 36. Recent independently developed European models from comprehensive surface and satellite data agree well with Goddard models at low and high degree compared to GEM errors. Discrepancies at intermediate degree may due to more extensive use of satellite orbits in Goddard fields. These conclusions (particularly on low-degree terms) conflict markedly with those made in a recent paper by Lambeck and Coleman (1983), who used an unreliable error estimator.