Google+ is proving so popular that at least one financial analyst is calling for the fledgling social network to tack on 20 million users in the fourth quarter, boosting membership to more than 60 million users.
On 13 October, Google CEO Larry Page said that Google+, which offers a Circles sharing construct that lets users follow anyone that they choose on the network, has grabbed more than 40 million users since launching to limited field testing on 28 June. The search engine provider opened to public beta testing in September and just launched Google+ Pages to allow brands and celebrities to promote themselves.
While these features certainly helped the network gain some traction, Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdry believes the presence of the +You button, which beckons non-members to join from a toolbar that sits above Google.com, and celebrity Google+Hangouts video chat sessions have helped bolster the platform’s profile.
“Google’s strategy is the same as what they did with Android and became very successful,” wrote Chowdry in a research note. “Namely, capture the rest-of-the-world and then come toUSA. This blindsided Microsoft, Nokia and RIM to Android market adoption, and before they realised, it was too late for corrective action. Google is doing the same with Google+.”
Facebook is certainly aware of this, going into lockdown mode in the summer of 2010 to push out new products. All it has done since that time is grow its user base to 800 million users and unveil the Timeline user interface, and new, more connective tissue in the form of Social Apps. Even Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told US chat show host Charlie Rose that Google was trying to “build its own little Facebook”.
Of course, any position on Google.com is considered prime real estate, considering that Google logs around two million searches per minute and attracts 300 million unique visitors each day. Chowdry also expects Google will add the +You button to its YouTube property before the end of the year to entice more users to sign up.
This will have a significant impact on Google+ membership thanks to YouTube’s significant traffic and global reach, which the analyst noted includes:
Putting all of the eye-popping stats aside, Chowdry’s point is that YouTube is already a highly social network that Google can make even more social with some of the Google+ pixie dust. This synergy is likely already being realised thanks to existing integrations between the two networks.
Chowdry fashioned his report before the launch of Google+ Pages, which could theoretically provide a significant boost to Google+ membership for those who like to follow their favourite brands. However, the company will need to add more “Justin Bieber”-type brands to capitalise on that approach.
Thoma Bravo agrees to acquire Darktrace for $5.32 billion in cash, delivering some welcome news…
Customer adoption of AI services embedded in cloud services continues to deliver results for Microsoft,…
TikTok's 'secret source' algorithm is so core to ByteDance, it would rather shut down US…
After relocating from California to Texas in 2020, Oracle's Larry Ellison now reveals plan to…
Share price hit after Meta admits heavy AI spending plans, after posting strong first quarter…
For third time Google delays phase-out of third-party Chrome cookies after pushback from industry and…