Google+ Popularity

Graphic of Facebook vs. Google

GOOGLE+ MARKET SHARE SKYROCKETS

Experian Hitwise

LISTEN To The Daily Numbers podcast

Google Plus enjoyed 1269% growth from the week ending September 17th to the week of September 24th.

THOUGHT: Opening up access to Google’s social networking service to everyone created a huge surge in traffic to the site but the question, of course, is if those visitors turned into actual users. 

Given the rapid adoption rate of Google+ thus far, it’s a good bet many of them. For Google+ to have staying power, they’ll need a critical mass of people adopting it so that there’s people you know there using it.

The reason people stick with Facebook despite all their complaints about privacy and whenever Zuckerberg changes the layout or adds new features is because everyone they know uses Facebook. The reason people spend so much time at a social networking site is because their friends and colleagues are there. 

But that may not be the game Google is playing. Since Google can’t get at Facebook’s social data and since their deal with Twitter ended, they’ve not been able to learn how people behave in and use and share content from social networks. It may simply be that insight that Google is after, so they can learn to deliver more relevant content through search. 

Regardless of the reason Google got into the social networking game, the fact they are in it means you should be playing there as well, if only to get a lay of the land. Google has promised to offer Google+ business/brand pages eventually, and content that is popular on business/brand pages is likely to get more visibility within Google’s search results.

Understanding how people behave in Google+ now will give you a better idea of how to use Google+ business  pages once they are introduced. 

 

BONUS: My Gloves Off column for Direct Marketing News about why marketers need to pay attention to Google+.

 

KEYWORD WEDNESDAY: 71% of the people searching for “Google+” are thirty-four years old or younger, according to Yahoo! Clues.

 

Thank you for The Wizard of Oz.

 

GET THESE INSIGHTS DELIVERED DAILY TO YOUR INBOX: