With Google coming in a distant second

Jul 7, 2010 15:43 GMT  ·  By

With most websites out there requiring some form of authentication, it’s no surprise that several large sites or platforms have popped up to fill the need. Nobody wants to register for every site they visit just to post a comment so they use their Facebook, Google or Twitter accounts. But which provider is preferred? Well the answer isn’t that surprising, it’s Facebook, but what’s interesting is that people use different accounts for different types of websites.

According to data from Gigya, 46 percent of people prefer Facebook when logging into third-party websites. The social network was bound to have a strong presence, but it looks like it’s close to dominating the market. Google comes in at a distant second with 17 percent of logins followed by Twitter with a surprising 14 percent.

Yahoo also has a strong presence, with 13 percent, and MySpace is the only other provider that counts with 7 percent. It should be noted that plenty of these, including Google and Yahoo, use a common system, OpenID, for the authentication process.

The picture changes once we drill down into specific categories. For entertainment sites, Facebook has an even more authoritative lead, with 52 percent of users preferring it. Twitter comes in second with 15 percent followed by MySpace with 14 percent. All in all, more than 80 percent chose a social networking profile for these sites.

Things are very different with news sites, here Twitter rules. The information network / microblogging platform is used in 45 percent of cases, a clear indication of the role the site has in the mind of its users. Facebook comes in second in this category with 25 percent of the logins followed by Google with 16 percent.

Finally, with business to business sites, Facebook is once again on top, chosen in 36 percent of cases. Google follows with 19 percent and then Yahoo and Twitter both with 18 percent. LinkedIn, the social network aimed at professionals, is preferred only by 3 percent of the users.

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Twitter is the most popular choice for news sites
Facebook leads overallFacebook is the most popular option for business to business sites
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