It does provide shade adequately; however, the measurements are not equal on all sides. It seems the measurements go from the corners and the sides are convex; which makes that area of the shade sunny.The summer heat is becoming more intense in Southern California (and elsewhere) which means a product that can stand up to the elements and provide shade is essential.These look as advertised. The look great and the installation was simple. Careful I bought other brands and they have sizing issues. Would recommend these for sure!This was my second purchase, I replaced the bamboo roll ups with these. Love them!First, I want to say that I gave 4 stars instead of 5 because the rope this comes with is useless. I had some decent cord from my last one that only lasted a few months so I used that and it worked very well. So get your own cord and you will also need your own mounting kit. I bought mine here on Amazon for $12 so no biggy.I got a brown 8x8 for only $30. The material is great and it gives me the shade I was looking for. It's very sturdy and not soft which is what you need over your head. Plus, it does not budge in the wind. I live upstairs and am using this over my large balcony, the last one that was lightweight flapped all over the place in the wind so the sun came in as the wind picked it up. This one? No problem. It barely moves and there is no sag after 5 days of it being up. It has not rained yet but I suspect it will do great and the material looks like it will hold up well from being bleached by the sun. I'm very happy with this purchase.It wasn’t exactly what I was looking for. My structure is 8x8 square, this is 8x8 to the rings and isn’t square. It will do the job for now. Does filter the sun very nicely, and is well made and seems sturdy. Price is definitely right.***Update I installed the replacement that was provided (a 8x8); however the sizing is off and shorter on one side, so I had to add more hardware to make it to the anchor point. My anchor points are not moveable, but with one turn buckle and another D ring I was able to install. I also noticed that this one had a lot of extra over stitching in the middle of the material, but it will still do the job that it was intended for.**Update* Mar 03, 2019 after contacting the seller about the failure and providing pictures of the damage, they are replacing my sails. Replacement arrived and is made in CHINA. Same material, but should hold up for the warranty that is stated here on Amazon.Update As of Feb 2019 I now have two holes in this sail, the material is crunchy and drying out with only half exposure each day from noon to about 4-5pm. This sail was installed in Apr of 2017 so I guess the sail is good for two summers and not making it into the third season/summer. Really bummed. Overall rating down from 5 to 2. I give it 2 for that fact that is help reduce the direct sun on the side of the home as well as where a vehicle is parked.Only had the shade for about a month and can not provide review on how long this will last, but the material appears to be good enough to last, size as expected based on site information.I'm shading the side of a home and vehicle parking area and so far the three that I planned out for are doing the job of keeping the west side of the house and vehicle cooler.Product arrived and was just as described. Easy to put up. Today is our first really windy day and I left it up just to see how sturdy it is, its hanging in there like a champ! Blocks the sun really well. We've been no less than 112 for the past few days and having it up over our deck, you can feel a definite difference in temps under it.