Following Login Changes, Facebook Extends Social Login Dominance

Facebook's recent login changes are returning some measurable, positive results.

The social network has extended its dominance in the area of social logins, now claiming 55% of all social logins, according to recent data from Gigya, social-login provider for customers like Verizon, CNN and ABC. Clicking "log in with Facebook" on a site — or Twitter or Yahoo, for that matter — is considered part of the social login market; Facebook is used more than half the time.

That is up from 53% in Q1 of 2014, and 52% a year ago.

Instead of creating a new username and password for these different sites, users routinely have the option to sign in with an existing account — one they've created on a social site like Facebook, Twitter, or Google+. Facebook has dominated this area for along time, but the company extended its lead on Google+ last quarter, which holds a 27% share.

On mobile, where social logins allow users to more easily register for third party apps, Facebook has an even larger market share. Roughly 64% of all social logins on mobile devices come through Facebook, with 25% from Google+. Yahoo claims only 3%.

The growth in market share is a good sign for Facebook, which recently changed its login system to encourage more users to utilize their Facebook ID on third party apps. At the company's F8 developer conference in April, Facebook announced a new standard for app permissions, meaning developers will need to prove to Facebook why they need each piece of user data they are requesting.

Users will then be able to choose which pieces of data they are willing to share with a third party app.

The idea is to keep user information more private (at least to those outside Facebook) and give users more control over what they are sharing.

These new standards aren't fully implemented. Facebook is giving developers a year to transition their app to the new login standards, but any new app will go through more more extensive process. Facebook also announced anonymous login, which lets users test apps without sharing any information from their profiles, but that feature hasn't been rolled out to enough developers to gauge its success.

Gigya CEO Patrick Salyer believes that even at this early stage, these changes been successful as evidenced by Facebook's share of the social login market.

"Some of the announcements they made at the last F8 probably made an impact there," Salyer said. "I think the majority of the impact is really coming from the increased transparency and control for consumers."

Gigya isn't alone in its findings. Additional login data from Janrain, another software company with social login integration products, found that Facebook added market share in Q2 for the first time in a year and a half, extending its lead over Google+.

Logins are important for Facebook, as they help ensure users won't be deserting the service any time soon. If you rely on your Facebook email and password combination for all your other apps, it's likely you'll keep you Facebook activated. Plus, it gives Facebook an idea of which apps and services are most popular among its user base.

Posted by : Gizmeon