It is not enough to be able to state your favorite movie, your favorite song or your favorite color. In the 21st century, you should also be ready to answer this question: What’s your favorite Internet brand?
That is what JupiterResearch did recently in a survey, and it should come as no surprise that Google won this popularity contest. Next in line was Yahoo, followed by Amazon, eBay and MySpace.
Yahoo, which has been less able than Google to translate its strong brand recognition into strong financial growth, may want to take note: results varied by gender. “Yahoo fans skew female but tend toward the mainstream, while Google fans are more likely to be male, a little more wealthy, and influential on the subject of consumer electronics, “ Jupiter states.
MySpace, the social networking site, was as popular as Google and Yahoo among the younger set (ages 18 to 24). But among all adults, it is highly unlikely to unseat Google as the “Gone With the Wind” of the Internet age.
Source: nytimes.com
Google Wins the Most Hearts on the Web
September 5, 2007, 9:58 amAsk.com on the Upswing
September 5, 2007, 9:55 am
In Internet search, innovation pays. That seems to be the message from the latest American Consumer Satisfaction Index, the University of Michigan’s well-known barometer of consumer satisfaction.
The latest ranking, released Tuesday, shows the four major search engines and portals all scored almost the same, with Yahoo winning the race with 79 points, Google close behind with 78, and Microsoft and Ask.com with 75. Notably, however, Ask showed the biggest gain in the past year, and the biggest gain since it – or rather, predecessor AskJeeves – was first measured in 2002.
The jump is a credit to Ask’s June makeover, arguably the most far reaching effort by a major search engine to depart from the “ten blue links,” the traditional way of displaying search results. Since then, Ask has been displaying results in three panes that include traditional results, as well as links to videos, blogs and other types of content, and ways for searchers to narrow or expand their queries.
“They’ve made great innovations in search,” said Larry Freed, president and chief executive of ForeSee Results, which collaborates with the university on measurements of Internet companies. “While they are not going to overtake Google in the search market, we’d expect to have some positive impact in their market share going forward.”
Indeed, no one is about to overtake Google, even though its own satisfaction index slipped three points in the past year. Of every 100 Internet search queries in the United States, roughly 50 take place on Google, another 25 on Yahoo, 13 on Microsoft, 5 on Ask.com, 4 on AOL and the rest on an assortment of smaller Web services, according to comScore.
But with every point in market share translating into millions of dollars in advertising, even a small gain could be good news for Ask. Yahoo, which is up three points from last year, may also be in for some much needed good news, Mr. Freed said: “Since the ACSI has long been proven scientifically to be a leading indicator of growth and stock prices, a rising ACSI score indicates that Yahoo’s fortunes may again be on the rise, even as it suffers a beating in the financial press.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Freed said Google’s drop is most likely due to consumers not being aware of the innovations it has delivered in products other than search, like its customizable home page and its mapping service. The report wasn’t rosy for everyone. AOL, which has been undergoing a transformation from a paid Internet access service, to a free, ad-supported portal, suffered a nearly 10 percent drop in customer satisfaction. Mr. Freed noted there were some well-publicized problems with AOL customers unable to cancel their subscriptions.
“They could again become a competitor to be dealt with, but as of now, they are struggling with the customer service aspect of this transformation,” he said.
Source: bits.blogs.nytimes.com
The latest ranking, released Tuesday, shows the four major search engines and portals all scored almost the same, with Yahoo winning the race with 79 points, Google close behind with 78, and Microsoft and Ask.com with 75. Notably, however, Ask showed the biggest gain in the past year, and the biggest gain since it – or rather, predecessor AskJeeves – was first measured in 2002.
The jump is a credit to Ask’s June makeover, arguably the most far reaching effort by a major search engine to depart from the “ten blue links,” the traditional way of displaying search results. Since then, Ask has been displaying results in three panes that include traditional results, as well as links to videos, blogs and other types of content, and ways for searchers to narrow or expand their queries.
“They’ve made great innovations in search,” said Larry Freed, president and chief executive of ForeSee Results, which collaborates with the university on measurements of Internet companies. “While they are not going to overtake Google in the search market, we’d expect to have some positive impact in their market share going forward.”
Indeed, no one is about to overtake Google, even though its own satisfaction index slipped three points in the past year. Of every 100 Internet search queries in the United States, roughly 50 take place on Google, another 25 on Yahoo, 13 on Microsoft, 5 on Ask.com, 4 on AOL and the rest on an assortment of smaller Web services, according to comScore.
But with every point in market share translating into millions of dollars in advertising, even a small gain could be good news for Ask. Yahoo, which is up three points from last year, may also be in for some much needed good news, Mr. Freed said: “Since the ACSI has long been proven scientifically to be a leading indicator of growth and stock prices, a rising ACSI score indicates that Yahoo’s fortunes may again be on the rise, even as it suffers a beating in the financial press.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Freed said Google’s drop is most likely due to consumers not being aware of the innovations it has delivered in products other than search, like its customizable home page and its mapping service. The report wasn’t rosy for everyone. AOL, which has been undergoing a transformation from a paid Internet access service, to a free, ad-supported portal, suffered a nearly 10 percent drop in customer satisfaction. Mr. Freed noted there were some well-publicized problems with AOL customers unable to cancel their subscriptions.
“They could again become a competitor to be dealt with, but as of now, they are struggling with the customer service aspect of this transformation,” he said.
Source: bits.blogs.nytimes.com
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