There are many ways to measure the effectiveness of web property, especially sites with such broad reaches that their name recognition is almost second nature.
One such measurement includes conducting a survey to measure customer satisfaction, which is what University of Michigan recently did with their American customer satisfaction Index. The study, which seems to be focused on Internet properties, found that Yahoo and Google are almost neck and neck in this department, indicating that Yahoo has effectively caught up to Google, at least with respect to satisfied users.
According to a report by Forbes, which detailed the findings of Michigan’s ACSI test, Yahoo produced an ACSI score of 80 out of a possible 100, up from last year’s 78. Google, who scored an 82, maintained a lead over Yahoo, but the gap between the two is getting smaller.
Lisa DiCarlo, author of the Forbes report, indicates the two-point margin is the closest Yahoo has been to Google in terms of customer satisfaction. DiCarlo also states the study is good indicator of how the dividing lines between the two companies have blurred. Yahoo, known for being a portal, has embraced all things search in the last two years; while Google, known for being dedicated web search provider, has started to embrace portal-like status with the development of services like Gmail, Froogle, and their Google Map service.
The ACSI survey also revealed MSN and AOL trail Google and Yahoo by a “significant margin”.
However, Danny Sullivan also notes that because the two companies are known as different types of web properties, Google being search and Yahoo being a portal, perhaps the questions concerning levels of customer service for each were different and that the scores may not be comparable. Danny’s questioning seems to meld with the article in respect to search. DiCarlo’s write-up stated even though Yahoo and Google are close in respect to customer service scores, Google conducted more searches in the second quarter (2005) than Yahoo, MSN, AOL, and Ask Jeeves combined.
Chris Richardson is a search engine writer and editor for Murdok. Visit Murdok for the latest search news.
