Tuesday, July 19, 2011

User satisfaction study: Facebook vulnerable to Google+

IDG News Service - User satisfaction with Facebook is low enough that the social networking site risks losing significant market share to Google+, according to a new study.

Although Facebook did marginally better this year than last, it still ranked last among all the sites included in the study, called the American Customers Satisfaction Index (ACSI)/ForeSee Results E-Business Report.

Describing the Facebook user experience as "poor," author Larry Freed wrote that Facebook has benefitted from "a monopoly of sorts" in the social networking market.
But Facebook shouldn't rest on its laurels. Despite its dominance, things could change quickly if it doesn't improve its customer satisfaction, according to Freed, president and CEO of Foresee Results.

"If Google can carry over their customer-centric ethos to Google+, Facebook could have serious competition that has the potential to very quickly erode its market share," he wrote in a draft of the report sent to IDG News Service.

Freed noted that Facebook increased its customer satisfaction score from 64 last year to 66 this year -- out of a possible 100 -- a sign the company "may be moving in the right direction, albeit very slowly."      More