Independent research firm Gartner, Inc. says AOL having difficulty winning over consumer's trust. Analysts cite consumer trust to be a key indicator of Internet services success in the years to come.

by ISP-Planet Staff [August 30, 2001]

As the battle between Microsoft and America Online heats up, a new survey by Gartner Group shows many consumers have a higher level of distrust for AOL. According to the new survey of online adult consumers, AOL Time Warner is the least trusted company on the Internet when compared to banks, brokerages, credit card companies, Amazon.com, large retailers, and Microsoft.

AOL earned very poor trust marks with 37 percent of all online consumers claiming a high level of distrust for the company. Microsoft fared better, with 29 percent who are highly distrustful of the software giant.

On the flip side, 17 percent of consumers say they have very high levels of trust in Microsoft while 15 percent say the same about AOL. Microsoft's consumer trust ratings are equivalent to the ratings earned by brokerages.

Avivah Litan, Gartner vice president and research director, said AOL has always viewed itself as the "consumer's advocate" but this survey clearly dispels that myth.

"The added trust that consumers have in Microsoft gives the company an important leg up in its battle with AOL for online services," Litan said. "Consumers will be more likely to try new Microsoft features embedded in Windows XP, such as Microsoft Messaging,"

The survey also points to online privacy and security as the two largest concerns of online users when using the Internet—consequently the trust factor is a pertinent barometer of future consumer adoption of new Internet services. Other consumer attitudes and dynamics discovered by the survey also seem to work in favor of Microsoft and to the detriment of AOL. Additional findings include:

• Microsoft received higher consumer satisfaction ratings than AOL did on its ISP and e-mail services.
• AOL got higher marks on its instant messaging service but loyalty among AOL's Instant messaging users is limited.
• Nearly one-third of all non-Microsoft instant messaging users said they were "not sure" if they would switch to it once the service started popping up on their screen when they tried to connect to the Internet.
• Another 4 percent of the online consumers said they would in fact switch to the Microsoft service.
• Just less than two-thirds said they would stick to their current service.

"In its attempt to capture more of the instant messaging market, Microsoft is not facing as an entrenched and loyal AOL instant messaging customer base as one would imagine," said Litan. "Consumers tend to follow the path of least resistance, and if it's easier for them and their buddies to make the move to Microsoft Messenger, they will."

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