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Tips
for Choosing Web Mail and Search Engine Providers
11/28/2006
Source: J.D. Power and Associates
Consumers continue to increase the amount
of time spent communicating online. Therefore, it is important to
find instant messaging services, e-mail providers and search engines
that fit the needs of individuals living fast-paced lifestyles.
The comfort, ease and availability of the individual services should
be tailored to work best for you. With all the options out there,
it shouldn’t be difficult to find services that meet a variety
of preferences. Here are tips to help you choose a Web mail provider
and search engine.
Choose a Web mail provider that fits you
personal needs.
- Many of today’s services are free
of charge. Make sure you are not paying for a basic e-mail account.
- Research various account providers. Choose
one that offers a display and set-up that you like and feel comfortable
navigating.
- Look for an account that offers an adequate
amount of free storage. One gigabyte (GB) is the standard amount
offered by most providers.
- Research various spam filters. A junk-mail
or bulk mail folder should be built into the Web mail system.
Unwanted mail should not have the opportunity to clog your inbox.
Choose a search engine that provides the
best results and is easy to use.
- Test drive a variety of Internet search
engines before committing to one.
- Complete similar content searches on various
search engines to find one that suits your needs and user comfort
level.
- Try a search engine that aggregates
results from major search engines simultaneously, such as Dogpile,
which ranked highest in the J.D. Power and Associates 2006 Residential
Online Service Customer Satisfaction Study.SM Other search engines
of this type should list the search engines it queries on the
Web site homepage.
Instant messaging services, search engine/search
function and portals are examined through more than 10,000 responses
from consumers who participated in the 2006 Residential Online
Service Customer Satisfaction Study.
To view the ratings for online service providers,
Internet service providers and providers of other telecommunications
services, visit the Online
Service Ratings on the J.D. Power Consumer Center.
Source: J.D. Power and Associates 2006 Residential
Online Service Customer Satisfaction Study
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