For the first time ever, Yahoo has surged ahead of search-giant Google in customer satisfaction, according to a recent survey. Conducted by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) - which is run by the University of Michigan - the survey shows that while Yahoo gained 4% from last year while Google fell the same amount.

Google had held the top spot in the “Internet Portals/Search Engines” category since 2002. Their drop from the top spot could be attributed to some heat they’ve been taking the past year over their privacy policies.

This 4% is a small drop, and at present Google is still the dominant search engine. It should also be noted that Yahoo is a web portal, providing services and links that extend well beyond simple search queries. Google certainly provides more and more products and tools with each passing year, but the primary focus of their home page is still just search.

However, it is a good reminder that Yahoo, while still the underdog, is still a major player in the world of search, and one of Google’s chief competitors.