• Ad Age, Monday, August 21, 2006 11:45 AM

From the wonderful world of bizarre consumer studies: the American Consumer Satisfaction Index says consumers aren't as satisfied as they used to be with the Web's biggest companies--and Yahoo's rating has taken the biggest plunge since last year. Even the almighty Google saw its user satisfaction decline, compared with 2005's ratings. Still, the Mountain View, Calif. media and search outfit is still tops among Web portals--with 81 out of 100 possible satisfaction points, according to the study, compared with 82 last year. Yahoo lost five points since 2005, and now has 76; MSN now has 74 instead of 75; and IAC/InterActive Corp.'s Ask.com is down to 71 from 72, reports Ad Age--but it doesn't tell you how. Time Warner's PR-plagued AOL managed to increase its consumer satisfaction, edging up 3 big points to 74. Larry Freed, president-CEO of ForeSee Results, the company that sponsored the study, says AOL's satisfaction is rising because 3 million people have left the service since last year. Despite the fact that the claim doesn't make any sense, he says "fringe" players are leaving--so all the happy customers are staying. By that logic, AOL's consumer satisfaction should be shooting through the roof, following six straight years of heavy subscriber defection. That would also explain why everyone else's satisfaction is declining: Maybe it's because their businesses are actually growing? Who would you rather be?

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