Google goes OpenID - sort of

Stephen Withers
Wednesday, 08 September 2010 18:46

Business IT - Security

Google has started to allow the use of OpenID to simplify the process of creating a Google account.

OpenID is a standards-based way of logging into multiple websites using a single set of credentials. In a nutshell, the site being visited refers the login request to the user's OpenID provider.

OpenID providers include Yahoo!, Wordpress, AOL and MySpace, plus specialist organisations such as ClaimID and VeriSign.

Google now allows the use of a Yahoo!-issued OpenID in the creation of Google account, but not to log into the account once it has been created. "While Google does not yet support the usage of OpenID for replacing passwords on its own sites, we are involved in the OpenID community’s efforts to research how to best implement that type of support," said Tzvika Barenholz of Google's Internet identity team.

There are also moves to expand beyond Yahoo!-issued OpenIDs. "In the future we hope to expand this feature to other email providers," said Eric Sachs, senior product manager, Google Security.

What's the motivation? Making life easier for users isn't a bad thing, but Sachs also said "We have found that a much larger number of people complete the email verification process when this method is used [to create a Google account]." Just as web retailers don't want people leaving without buying the items they've added to the shopping cart, Google doesn't want people to open accounts without completing the process.