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Portal Performances: Revamped MSN Portal Still Lacks Momentum (IQ Interactive)
(from August 15, 2005 AdWeek IQ Interactive posting)
Microsoft has a ways to go if its wants its MSN portal to become first and foremost in the minds of Web users.
According to the latest American Customer Satisfaction Index report from the University of Michigan, "MSN had minimal improvement in customer satisfaction since 2003." The portal's ACSI score of 75 (on a scale of 100) lags behind leaders Google and Yahoo, which scored 82.5 and 80 respectively.
The report was blunt about the brand's lack of momentum: "MSN is not in a good position to make a serious move." That's despite MSN's efforts to revamp its search product and a national TV branding campaign earlier this year.
"Despite the commitment from its top ranks that it is fighting to beat Google, Microsoft hasn't quite figured out how to transfer its Windows platform ubiquity into a dominant position as an interface to the Internet," said Larry Freed, president and CEO of ForeSee Results, which managed the study. "In fact, Google seems ready to start to battle Microsoft on its turf with the introduction of desktop search. Given the links between customer satisfaction and revenues, they need to take a smart look at what users really want and start there."
While Yahoo and Google scored highest in consumer satisfaction, the recently relaunched AOL.com portal exhibited some strong momentum. AOL went from a very poor 56 to a respectable 71 this year. "A company that was down for the count just a few years ago will give the leaders a real run for their money if their scores continue to rise at this rate," said Freed.
Tier two search player Ask Jeeves also has shown solid improvement, moving from a 62 in 2002 to 72 this year.
Also of note from the study - while various news and information Web sites are clearly popular among the Internet audience, users appear to be less brand loyal to traditional Web properties. Scores in the category were relatively flat, averaging a 75 for the second year in a row. Interestingly, while leaders such as ABCNews.com and CNN.com showed no improvement, the "all others" category lead the field with a score of 78, indicating that more users are turning to lesser known sites for news.
"There is no clear winner in the news and information space, as all of the sites have difficulty in differentiating themselves from the pack and leveraging their unique personalities that exist in their traditional channels," said Freed.
--Mike Shields of Adweek IQ Interactive
posted by Unknown @ Tuesday, August 16, 2005,
