Google+ Traffic Declines As Novelty Wears Off?
by Saumitra Bhagwat on July 29, 2011 6:28 AM EST- Posted in
- Google Plus
Some of Google’s product launches distinctly remind me of this one South Park episode where Eric Cartman boosted visitor numbers at his theme park by artificially barring people from entering. While that's not entirely the case here, an invite-only system decidedly helps pique user interest by inducing a feeling of exclusivity and it seems to have worked quite well for Google in the past with services like Gmail.
Google+ launched on June 29th as private invite-only beta with much fanfare as Google tried to take yet another stab at social networking. Users were impressed with the clean, intuitive UI and features like Circles and Hangouts. Some have even gone as far as to abandon Facebook completely and migrate over.
However all is not rosy as Experian Hitwise reports total visits to the website fell to about 1.79 million in the week ending July 23rd, a 3% drop from the 1.86 million in the previous week. Average time spent on the website also dropped from 5 minutes, 50 seconds to about 5 minutes, 15 seconds. However, the stats don't account for people using the Google+ app, so take these numbers with a pinch of salt.
I’ve personally been using Google+ since launch day, and have found myself spending less time on the website of late. What about you guys? Let us know in the comments!
Source: Mashable
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davepermen - Friday, July 29, 2011 - link
if there's no social aspect in it, why use it?the only ones that are in there posting around are the ones too "cool" for facebook. my real friends are all still on facebook. they care about who is on there, not what hip platform it is.
and i'm really pissed off by the on-their-own-ego-approach google delivered. i want social networks to connect together, and work together so i don't have to be on all them all the time to be connected to my friends. on my wp7, i'm on twitter, facebook and msn. that fills 100% of the people i want to connect to. so what's g+ for, then? for me, for nothing.
but i guess, stuff will evolve. it'll get tightly integrated, so android users will love it because it's "just there". another reason to not really like it. i don't like one-company-only environments.
besides, this: http://www.twitlonger.com/show/bt5akp imagine doing something wrong and losing everything.
Shadowmaster625 - Friday, July 29, 2011 - link
Yep if you have a blogger account or a youtube account and someone flags you for a copyright violation, you can lose access to everything. I cant decide which one of these companies I hate more.bplewis24 - Friday, July 29, 2011 - link
That's completely untrue.Souka - Monday, August 1, 2011 - link
What's Google+?(just kidding for all ya flamers about to hit the Reply button)
Fragmire - Friday, July 29, 2011 - link
Please take a look at https://plus.google.com/113116318008017777871/post... before throwing out untrue statements. Google only blocks the G+ account, not across all Google properties.JMS3072 - Friday, July 29, 2011 - link
I have definitely been spending less time on it. Less of it is the novelty wearing off, but part of it is also the relatively small membership.I think this is a symptom of how G+ has been spread in contrast to Facebook. When Facebook was first coming out, it was targeted at the pre-existing social hubs- the (forgive me for saying it) nerds who are G+'s target audience don't have the pull in their social circles to get other people to join.
Botia - Friday, July 29, 2011 - link
I'm glad I can spend 5 minutes and keep up with my friends. To do the same on Facebook takes constant monitoring all day long. Too much of a time sync for me. If G+ can achieve the same thing in 5 minutes, I'm all for it.quiksilvr - Friday, July 29, 2011 - link
I've spent less time in general on Facebook and social sites. I think I've realized that I don't really care anymore. All Facebook has become is a place to either chat or look at pictures of hot girls. That's pretty much it.Souka - Monday, August 1, 2011 - link
Don't forget posting pictures of what you ate, what movie you're seeing, or book you just downloaded....creathir - Friday, July 29, 2011 - link
The problem with a social network launch is just that, you need people to be social on it. It seems like no one (at least in my circles) uses it. We should I check it when there is nothing to check? And that circle of behavior continues until you have to go on Facebook to let others know you've just posted on Google+. I feel like everyone thought it was chicke to be on it, but then just left it at that. That's just my two cents though...