Facebook, Google Face Backlash Over Logins

[IIOY]

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Facebook Inc. and Google Inc. are battling to be the gateway through which users connect to websites and mobile apps. But users and businesses may be losing interest in such "social login" services.

Consumers worry about broadcasting their preferences and habits to companies and across their social networks. Businesses are torn between making life easier for users and letting Facebook and Google see the resulting data.

"A few years ago, there was a frenzy, but the interest has peaked," says Sucharita Mulpuru-Kodali, an analyst at Forrester Research who studies social login. "There's the fear of, 'Oh my God, I'm going to click something and God knows what's going to show up on my Facebook wall.' "

Facebook created Facebook Connect in 2008, and later changed the name to Facebook Login. App makers have found it useful in attracting users, who are spared the hassle of registering their credentials. Meanwhile, Facebook learns more about what its users did elsewhere on the Web. Google followed suit with Google+ Sign-In in 2013.

But a Forrester survey of 66 large and midsize companies finds that only 17% use social-login buttons, and more than half have no plans to do so. Forrester hadn't previously done a similar survey, but Ms. Mulpuru-Kodali says social login offerings are no longer appealing to retailers and users.

The plateau for social-login offerings highlights the challenge of establishing digital identity and Silicon Valley's repeated efforts to put itself at the center. As long ago as 1999, Microsoft Corp. MSFT -0.18% offered Passport, which included a username, password and wallet enabling users to register and buy goods across the Internet. Amid consumer indifference and privacy lawsuits, Microsoft stopped offering a universal sign-on service in 2006.

Others, including Yahoo Inc., YHOO -0.06% Amazon.com Inc., AMZN +1.49% and Twitter Inc., TWTR -0.94% have their own social-login buttons, which have attracted few followers. Yahoo recently banned other companies' login buttons from its Web properties, dramatizing the competition.

Establishing digital identity is increasingly urgent as screens shrink, passwords multiply, and businesses seek ways to reach people on their smartphones and to recommend products based on users' habits.

Today, when users first log in to a website or app using Facebook Login or Google+, they're asked about the data they are willing to share, including profiles, contact lists and "likes." Google+ users can also add their Google Wallet information and YouTube preferences.

Businesses whose core products are built around an app, such as hotel-booking site HotelTonight, say one-click sign-in is a huge benefit on a smartphone's small screen. People "are happy with the option of bypassing a lengthy form," HotelTonight CEO Sam Shank said of Google+ Sign-In. "What matters is making the transaction as seamless as possible." HotelTonight also uses Facebook Login.

Facebook says its service is gaining popularity, and is used by 80 of 100 top-grossing smartphone apps in the U.S. Google has described its login button as a potential replacement for browser cookies, which can be inaccurate and don't extend a user's identity to smartphones.

Both companies are shifting their social-login strategies. Facebook recently said it would begin to offer anonymous logins and also allow users to choose which data they want to share, a response to privacy concerns. The head of Google+ recently stepped down amid signs the social network isn't popular with users.

"We've gotten feedback," said Eddie O'Neil, product manager for Facebook Login. "We first heard from people that they want more transparency, second, more control."

Some users remain wary. "I don't want everyone in my social network to know what I'm shopping for," said Rebecca Silliman, who works in marketing for an e-commerce company in San Francisco. "I feel like every time I give permission, I'm probably giving away more than I'm ultimately comfortable with."

Likewise, many businesses, particularly brick-and-mortar retailers, are conflicted.

Login buttons "are a great concept," said Eric Singleton, chief information officer for women's clothing retailer Chico's FAS Inc., CHS -3.77% which is considering including social logins in its planned smartphone apps. Mr. Singleton said Chico's wants to offer personalized recommendations to shoppers, which could vary by location and time of day.


Social logins could help, Mr. Singleton said, but he is concerned with Facebook's mixed record of protecting consumer privacy. Chico's is internally testing Google+ Sign-In, but Mr. Singleton is worried about the technical challenges of connecting to Google's system, and whether it would bring Chico's the type of data it's looking for. He said he'd want to ensure that "in anything Chico's does, it would be 100% clear to the consumer what they're agreeing to."

When Google approached Macy's Inc. M -2.74% about using social login in the spring of 2013, officials at the retailer were concerned Google would gain access to data, such as how often shoppers bought jeans or housewares on Macys.com, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Google said it doesn't collect such data. Macy's asked to see the computer code that would be placed on its website by Google, but Google declined, according to the person familiar with the matter. Macy's, which hasn't adopted the login, declined to comment. Google declined additional comment.

Others wonder what the fuss is about. When real estate website Zillow Inc. Z -3.19% added a Facebook login button more than two years ago, CEO Spencer Rascoff thought it would make life easier for users who would no longer need to remember a Zillow password. But he said about 15% of visitors used the Facebook login, fewer than he had expected.

Mr. Rascoff speculates the people could be concerned they might inadvertently share with their social network a house they looked at on Zillow. Facebook says such sharing could only happen if users agreed to share preferences with friends.

Frank Hamlin, executive vice president of marketing for Guitar Center, said that adding social login buttons from Google and Facebook last year helped attract younger customers, but the numbers are small and haven't translated into sales. "There's definitely value in the data, but not demonstrable revenue," he said. "It hasn't moved the needle on the business."

[IIOY]

I don't use any website that requires me to log in through FB, so this surprises me not at all.

[heyjude]

May 21, 2014 7:51:27 GMT -5 IIOY said:

I don't use any website that requires me to log in through FB, so this surprises me not at all.

Yup. Usually if that's the only option in just not going to use your site. I don't link FB to anything.

[curbsideprophet]

I hate when sites require FB to log in. I usually just end up not going to that site.

[secretlyevil]

May 21, 2014 7:51:27 GMT -5 IIOY said:

I don't use any website that requires me to log in through FB, so this surprises me not at all.

I like my social media sites to be linked together, mostly, but other than that I don't use my FB to log-in to other sites.

[jeaniebueller]

I always choose the option of creating a new login rather than logging in through FB. Remember a few years ago when FB experimented with linking articles you had read and linking it on your FB page? Stupid.

[MrsAxilla]

"There's the fear of, 'Oh my God, I'm going to click something and God knows what's going to show up on my Facebook wall"

So much this. I'm so perplexed by FB sometimes. Businesses my friends like pop up in my feed; i see coupons and deals theyve claimed; I see posts from a year or so ago (Friend likes this post from March 2012); I see comments my friends make on their friends pages and photos.... I'm afraid to like or comment anywhere because I never know who will actually see it, or when. I feel like FB is out of my control. There's no way I'd use it to log in anywhere.

[IIOY]

May 21, 2014 8:55:56 GMT -5 MrsAxilla said:

"There's the fear of, 'Oh my God, I'm going to click something and God knows what's going to show up on my Facebook wall"

So much this. I'm so perplexed by FB sometimes. Businesses my friends like pop up in my feed; i see coupons and deals theyve claimed; I see posts from a year or so ago (Friend likes this post from March 2012); I see comments my friends make on their friends pages and photos.... I'm afraid to like or comment anywhere because I never know who will actually see it, or when. I feel like FB is out of my control. There's no way I'd use it to log in anywhere.

Exactly.  The worst part of it all is that FB plays fast and loose with its privacy rules, so you never know if you have your information on lockdown or just "lockdown."  If FB would streamline the process and be fully transparent, people might be a bit more trusting.  OTOH, FB is in the data business, and most rational people actually care about protecting their data to the extent possible while maintaining an online presence, so transparency likely would drive away much of the information FB is trying to harvest.

[PinkSquirrel]

May 21, 2014 8:55:56 GMT -5 MrsAxilla said:

"There's the fear of, 'Oh my God, I'm going to click something and God knows what's going to show up on my Facebook wall"

So much this. I'm so perplexed by FB sometimes. Businesses my friends like pop up in my feed; i see coupons and deals theyve claimed; I see posts from a year or so ago (Friend likes this post from March 2012); I see comments my friends make on their friends pages and photos.... I'm afraid to like or comment anywhere because I never know who will actually see it, or when. I feel like FB is out of my control. There's no way I'd use it to log in anywhere.

Yes.  All of this.    I will never willingly sign up for a website with my FB credentials because they never done a single thing to indicate they are actually concerned about my privacy.   Google, I tend to feel significantly more comfortable with and while I generally don't use Google to sign in, if I'm really lazy and it's a site I plan to not use much beyond the one time then I might sign in with Google.

[MrsAxilla]

Case in point - just now on FB: "Friend commented on this photo in March 2013"

WHY is this in my feed? Wy do I care about a post from 2013? This particular girl wasn't even a FB friend last year! God only knows what posts of mine are popping up.

[meshaliuknits]

May 21, 2014 8:39:07 GMT -5 heyjude said:

May 21, 2014 7:51:27 GMT -5 IIOY said:

I don't use any website that requires me to log in through FB, so this surprises me not at all.

Yup. Usually if that's the only option in just not going to use your site. I don't link FB to anything.

I don't have FB so it just angry's up my blood when that's the only log-in option.