Over at Advertising Age they have an article about the new services offered by Facebook, Google and Myspace that allow users to use the credentials established on those sites to log on to other sites around the web. They give reasons why web publishers should consider using these services. I'd like to counter that suggestion.
But first one correction...
Google, Facebook and MySpace have all developed platforms where publishers can let visitors log in with an existing account from another service, rather than requiring visitors to register for that specific site.
Ummm...Don't forget ol' Grand Dad. Live ID/Passport/Whatever has been at this identity thing for a long time now. They might not have all the bells and whistles but almost everyone has a Hotmail account (even if they don't use it) so Microsoft isn't completely out of the game. That said, the issue I wanted to address is this...
How should publishers choose among the current connect platforms -- Google Friend Connect, Facebook Connect and MySpaceID?
I have a simple answer to this question. Don't. Below are my 4 reasons why adopting any of these standards is a bad idea right now.
1. Effort: In the end at least one of these services is going to die. No one knows which one that is. Meaning if you chose to be an early adopter you have, at best, a 1-in-4 chance of completely wasting your time. Worse there seems to be no answer to this question: if you sign up users through one of these services and it goes away what exactly do you do then?
2. Money: Realistically these rivalries all tend to play out the same. Companies try to compete on technology but all their different solutions have essentially the same advantages so eventually they start spreading money around to get web sites to adopt their flavor of the technology.
No one's going to offer money to the guy who already signed up.
3. Compliance: Jumping on a bandwagon first only pays off if the bandwagon is a positive one. Everyone loves the guy whose company went green but what about the TV exec who first decided to put those annoying ads on the bottom of the screen during your favorite show? No one likes that guy.
These systems are all proprietary meaning anyone adopting them will look bad as long as OpenId has a chance of survival. Sadly, I don't think that will be true for very much longer but while it is companies are best to steer clear of proprietary standards from a PR perspective.
4. Power: Having user info is valuable. That's why everyone's been collecting it all this time. By signing up for one of these services you are giving that information to another company who can control your access to it. That's a disadvantage to you. So why do it if you don't have to?
With all that said I present the 1 non-cynical reason why you might want to consider adopting one of these systems.
1. Barrier To Entry: We all know that signing up for a new service is a pain. If you have a new service that you desperately want people to sign up for it isn't the worst idea to let them use credentials they already have. Just remember what you're giving away in valuable user data and make an informed decision.