Internet site Yahoo, for the first time, has outperformed web giant Google in overall customer satisfaction, says a new survey.According to the University of Michigan’s American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), Yahoo’s score in the index improved by about four per cent over the past year to 79 (out of 100 points) while Google’s score fell by nearly 4 per cent to 78.

“Even more important than Yahoo’s first lead over Google, is the trend of their scores moving in opposite directions,” said Larry Freed, online satisfaction expert and President and CEO of ForeSee Results, which sponsors the ACSI e-business report. “Since the ACSI is a leading indicator of financial performance on the macro scale and at the company level, we may see a real turnaround for Yahoo! in the next year.

“A number of design changes and enhancements are paying off for Yahoo! in higher customer satisfaction, which will be critical to turning around this year’s lacklustre financials,” he said. While Google remains the dominant search engine, Yahoo is gaining user approval for its network of websites, e-mail and other features, said the survey.