Benefits of implementing OAuth

Question

From a webservice provider point of view what is the benefit of asking users to create an account or login using 3rd party web service provider (e.g: Twitter or facebook) to log into your site with?

Wouldn't it be easier to ask the user to provide their twitter or facebook login and use that to pull the user's twitter or facebook data?

It is safer to use OAuth than giving some one the internet our twitter or facebook login credential. But, I can't figure out the benefit from the web service point of view.

Answer 1

One obvious benefit is that generally you're going to be connecting to an API rather than logging in through the user's account and scraping html.

The primary benefit though as you stated is to provide security for the user. I for one would never type my email/twitter/etc passwords on your site directly. That's the whole point of what OAuth is for.

Answer 2

Perhaps the biggest benefit from the web service point of view is having users that are more willing to user your service. I agree with FryGuy that I would never type in my twitter/Google password on another site. I do know that I am MUCH more likely to sign up for a web app, try a site out if I can just log in with my Google account. I think as web security/privacy become more 'top of mind' for more users (including the lay user), OAuth will become increasingly attractive.

Answer 3

Not writing your own login system is beneficial because You're Probably Storing Passwords Incorrectly and asking for the user to "Please Give Us Your Email Password" is wrong - and teaches user bad habits.

Answer 4

Wouldn't it be easier to ask the user to provide their twitter or facebook login and use that to pull the user's twitter or facebook data?

Until they change their Twitter/Facebook password. This is one of the major things OAuth solves - your access is not tied to their current username/password combination, so they're free to change it without having to update a couple dozen external apps.