• by Paul Gough , September 4, 2002

News sites are having trouble pulling ahead of the pack in a University of Michigan survey that rates customer satisfaction online.

The American Customer Satisfaction Index found five sites at the top of the survey, which averaged a score of 73 out of 100: ABCNews.com (74); MSNBC (73), CNN (72), NYTimes.com (71) and USAToday.com (71). The scores measure self-reported satisfaction levels but also includes formulas for customer loyalty and future business potential.

“There’s a tight gap among online news sites. They’re all having trouble differentiating themselves,” said Larry Freed, CEO of ForeSee Results, an online customer satisfaction firm that partners with the University of Michigan in the survey.

Freed tied ABCNews.com’s strength to its ability to translate its strength in traditional journalism to the online world. Overall, he said broadcast outlets are finding more success than their print-based rivals. He said it’s because the fast-paced world of Internet news is more akin to the 24/7 broadcast model than the deadline-driven newspapers.

But things aren’t all bleak for newspapers’ online sites. The sites score high overall on customer loyalty and many are able to leverage their brand assets.

“The print side does very well. The New York Times leads the pack on customer expectations and loyalty, benefiting from the halo effect” of its print product.

Freed predicts some kind of shakeout in the online news world, although it’s isn’t clear what form that will take or when it will happen. He said a driving force might be the sites able to prevail in a trend toward user customization of the news, something that Internet portals like Yahoo! and MSN have been able to do and where more traditional newspaper and broadcast sites have lagged.

The news-site rankings were done for the first time this year, so no comparisons were available. But the survey has rated portals previously. The survey finds MSN is gaining on market leader Yahoo! in the portal category, with AOL essentially flat in customer satisfaction.

Yahoo! rated 76 out of 100, compared to 73 in 2001. MSN raised its score to 72 from 67, while AOL received only a one-point improvement to 59. AOL’s score fell well below the average score of 68.

Google leads the pack among online searching sites, with a score of 80. Ask Jeeves and Alta Vista lagged behind, with scores of 62 and 61.