WebProNews

Customer satisfaction with e-business Web sites has reached a new high, according to the University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) second quarter report out today.

The e-business sector as a whole increased 6 percent to a score of 79.3 on ACSI's 100-point scale.

Google rose 10 percent to grab the top spot for portals and search engines. Google's score of 86 is one of the highest for any service company in all of the ACSI. The report says Google has been successful in moving from a search engine to a full-service portal.

"It's a changing marketplace and consumers are using the Internet differently than they used to," said Larry Freed, President and CEO of ForeSee Results.

"People are starting to go directly to the website or use bookmarks if they know what they're looking for, rather than using a portal. And if they don't know where to find it, they're going to use a search engine. Google is best positioned to take advantage of this trend, while the rest are struggling to maintain relevancy."

Yahoo fell 3 percent to 77 during the distracting merger talks with Microsoft. Yahoo was not focused on the user experience and its energies were concentrated on fighting off a hostile take over bid. During that time the company lost a number of key managers and peoples perceptions may have influenced by the extensive negative press involving the merger.

Microsoft's MSN stayed the same at 75. In an effort to increase market share, MSN introduced prize giveaways that did not drive traffic or satisfaction. Microsoft put its resources into acquiring a rival in hopes that the combination could challenge Google's dominance.

"The increase in overall e-business satisfaction is driven largely by a remarkable jump by Google, but tough economic conditions may be contributing to greater satisfaction with the sector," said Claes Fornell, head of the ACSI at the University of Michigan.