Every now and then a report is published that suggests people are slowly coming round to the idea of using Google+, however the reality is that it is still a long, long way behind Facebook in terms of active users and average time spent on the site.
Also, I recently looked at how major retailers use Google+ and it’s clear that they don’t have a very high opinion of the network.
But there’s still a nagging sense that businesses can’t afford to totally ignore Google+, as there’s a chance that in the long term it will have an increasing influence on search rankings.
Given this discussion, the use of Google+ was explored in the new Econsultancy/NetBooster UK Search Engine Marketing Benchmark Report 2013. It revealed some striking differences between client-side and agency responses over the perceived impact of Google+.
Almost two-thirds (63%) of client-side respondents stated that they don’t know if Google+ is having an impact on their search campaigns, compared to just 28% of agency respondents.
This could of course be an accurate reflection of the situation, or it could be that agencies are less willing to admit they’re unsure of Google+’s influence over search results.
Obviously this means that a greater proportion of agencies knew what impact Google+ was having on their clients’ campaigns and in the majority of cases this impact was ‘neutral’ (51%).
An additional 20% believed the impact to be ‘positive’, and no agencies thought it was negative.
What impact is Google+ having on your/your clients’ search campaigns?
Click Image To Enlarge
Google+’s positive impact
Respondents were asked to expand on why they thought Google+ was having a positive or negative impact on search campaigns.
Positive views from companies focused on the greater visibility allowed, and some have seen improved CTRs through use of Google+. Agency responses also focused on visibility and rankings.
A sample of agency responses regarding the positive impact include:
- "Making content more visible in the SERPS through authorship mark-up."
- "Higher rankings for those that utilise Google+ accounts and have social share icons (including Google+) on their blogs."
- "Social extensions drive purchase intent."
- "Greater SERP ownership on brand terms."
- "Increased referral traffic."
COMMENTARY: A new study commissioned by Janrain shows that, of the people who use social networks to log in to other websites, almost half (46 percent) use Facebook. But Google+ is in a strong second place, with 34 percent of social logins. (Janrain makes tools to help web developers use social network logins on their sites.)
Click Image To Enlarge
That bolsters the claim that Google+, despite its late start, is solidifying its position as the number 2 social network after Facebook.
In a distant third place: Yahoo, with just 7 percent of social logins; and Twitter, with 6 percent.
Google+ launched to a limited number of users in June, 2011, and more widely in September of that year. In the two years since then, it has zoomed past social networks that were years ahead and had hundreds of millions of users already: LinkedIn, Twitter, and a handful of Chinese social networks.
Google+ now has more than 500 million registered users and 343 million active users, according to an independent study by GlobalWebIndex from December, 2012.
Facebook is twice as big, claiming over a billion registered users, while GlobalWebIndex estimates Facebook has almost 700 million active users.
Click Image To Enlarge
But Google+ is growing faster, according to some measurements. It’s holding steady on social logins, according to Janrain’s data, growing just a fraction of a percent in Q2 2013. (Facebook sharing also stayed at roughly the same level — see the graph above.)
But sharing on both networks is increasing rapidly — only it’s growing much faster on Google+. People who use Facebook are sharing 10 percent more each month, in aggregate, while Google+ shares (aka +1s) are growing by 19 percent per month, according to a recent estimate by Searchmetrics, which tracks social network data.
At that rate, Searchmetrics estimated, Google will surpass Facebook by May 2016, at which time its users will generate over 1,096 billion +1s per month (yes, more than a trillion) while Facebook users will generate just 849 billion shares per month.
However you look at it — registered users, active users, social logins, or shares — Google+ is a surprisingly serious second. And it may even be a contender for the #1 spot in a few years.
Now if I could only find some people to hang out with on Google+.
The following graphs and charts compare Google+ with the other major social networks, including comparisons with Facebook and Twitter.
Click Image To Enlarge
Click Image To Enlarge
Click Image To Enlarge
Click Image To Enlarge
I think you have to be very careful that you don't come to some quick conclusions regarding Google+. Google+ is very early in its development, only about two years old (founded June 2011), while Facebook has been around since nine years, and Twitter has been in existence since 2006.
Google treats Google+ as an all incompassing connecting platform for its other applications, namely Google Mail, YouTube, Google Search, Google Play, Google Images, Google Calendar, Google Drive, Blogger, Google Mobile, Google Shopping and Google Wallet, to name a few.
Google is purposely growing Google+ in an aggressive manner requiring users to open a Google+ account to access their Google Mail, is a great example. Google+ is nothing like Facebook or Twitter, and that's a point of differentiation that truly sets it appart from its more older competitors. The audience tents to consist of younger males and females, better educated, techies and professionals. Google+ is my social network of choice.
I joined within days after Google+ was launched, and the thing I like about it is that it is not bloated or complicated to use like Facebook. It has a very elegant and simplistic user interface and is more appealing to the eye. For my money, Google+ offers a better overall online user experience than either Facebook or Twitter.
Courtesy of an article dated July 24, 2013 appearing in EConsultancy.com and an article dated July 8, 2013 appearing in VentureBeat
Comments