A study by the University of Michigan places Yahoo (YHOO) ahead of Google (GOOG) for customer service for the first time. The study focused on search, Web portals and Internet news sites.
The study called American Customer Satisfaction Index, has been going on since 2002, with Google being the top company for customer satisfaction since its inception - until this year.
While the score by Yahoo of 79 to 78 for Google falls within the 2-point margin of error of the study, it's significant for Yahoo because last year Google had a five-point lead over Yahoo, which has disintegrated in one short year. It shows Yahoo is doing something right in its customer focus.
Larry Freed, president of Foresee Results, a private Michigan company which sponsored and analyzed the ACSI e-business scores, said concerning Google that results show "The average consumer that goes to Google today doesn't see anything different than from three years ago."
That's an amazing view by consumers as you hear so many people talking online about how creative Google is. Either they're creating creative products consumers have no interest in, or they're doing a poor job of marketing them.
For Yahoo, this is great news as its purpose is to be an entry point to the Internet. From consumers' responses, they're getting that job done. If the resultant advertising comes with it, they could be positioned for strong growth for years if they keep on satisfying their customers like the last year.
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