14 DAY TRIAL // There are two big names when it comes to login platforms these days, Google and Facebook, with Twitter sometimes thrown in. But hype doesn't always translate into usage, as data from comment-platform provider Echo would suggest. It found that, when given the choice, most people preferred Yahoo Login over Facebook Connect or Google Friend Connect. Admittedly, it may not be the most objective of parties, the findings are posted on Yahoo's official developers’ blog for one, and the data comes just from the top 10 sites using the platform, but, even so, it's obvious that mainstream users still rely on Yahoo despite its recent fall from grace with most tech-savvy users.
"Yahoo! is the leading login choice of mainstream users on the social web, says Khris Loux, CEO of Echo, a real-time commenting company. Yahoo! accounts for 34% of logins across top sites tracked by Echo, followed by Facebook (25%) and Google Friend Connect (23%)," the post on the Yahoo developers’ blog reads.
"When added to a site, Echo allows logged-in users to share comments across their social networks," Khris Loux, Echo cofounder and CEO, explains. "Emerging data from use of these new tools indicates that the majority of mainstream audiences hold their affiliation to Yahoo! and Google in high regard. It challenges the notion that to optimize social media connections, publishers need to implement FaceBook Connect or Twitter."
The report focuses on just the ten biggest sites using Echo, which include CNET, Slate and Technorati. Echo users have a multitude of login options to choose from including the most popular ones, like Facebook Connect, Google Friend Connect, Twitter, and OpenID. Of course, both the Google and the Yahoo logins are based on OpenID, so, if Echo ranked by the technology used, the open login system would win by a landslide. The study focused on the brand alone.
Still, what's interesting is that Yahoo itself is now implementing Facebook Connect and Twitter's @anywhere. Even YouTube is adding more Facebook Connect features, so, in the not-so-distant future, we may end up with a situation where any login works on any site. Well, except maybe Facebook, which still requires users to register. Then again, the social network uses an existing email address as a login. All this seems good for the users and bodes well on an open web, but it may all be getting a bit too complicated for its own good.
