AOL Least Trusted Internet Company in Survey

[BigBlueBall News]

NewsFactor

August 23, 2001

America Online was the least trusted company on the Internet among companies mentioned in a survey released Thursday by research firm Gartner.



The survey of adult online consumers found that 37 percent of all online consumers said they were highly distrustful of AOL, while 29 percent claimed a high level of distrust for Microsoft.



On the flip side, 15 percent of consumers said they had very high levels of trust in AOL and 17 percent expressed a high level of trust in Microsoft. Gartner said that Microsofts trust ratings were equivalent to those earned by online brokerages.



IM War



AOL is not only losing points with consumers, but is also drawing the ire of competitors who claim the company is dragging its feet in developing government-mandated technology that will let its messaging service operate with other systems.



Last week, AOL launched a test with computing giant IBM and its Lotus Sametime messaging. AOL said the trial with IBM was part of the companys ongoing effort to explore interoperability with third-party IM systems "in a secure and reliable manner."



Odigo vice president of sales and marketing Alex Diamandis told NewsFactor Network the test is the "bare minimum" for AOL to live up to requirements imposed by federal regulators when they approved AOLs US$106 billion merger with old-media titan Time Warner earlier this year.



"They are not going out of their way to satisfy the FCC regulations, that is for sure," Diamandis said. "They are doing the minimum they have to."

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nf/20010823/tc/13041_1.html