Social Network Stats Of The Week: Google+ Traffic Drops, #RLTM Scoreboard

The #RLTM Scoreboard:  Social Network Stats for the Week

Please email marissa@modernmediapartners.com if you have additional updates, or a social network that you feel should be on the list.

Google+ Traffic Drops 60%

Initially open via invite-only, Google+ was opened to the general public on September 20th, and traffic jumped 1200% in one day.  But after the initial excitement wore off, traffic to the potential Facebook competitor dropped off by 60%.

Do these numbers spell doom for Google’s venture into social networking?  Or is it possible that a slower, less spectacular growth may still continue over time? Using some simple math, Tim Worstall at Forbes contends that with a growth rate of 480% overall for the last month, Google+ “isn’t, really, all that much of a failure.”

However, new data from Chitika illustrates that the dramatic gains in traffic on September 20th have now been completely erased.  The data analytics company suggests two main reasons for the lack of sustained interest in Google+:

• The supply of users for social media sites is limited – a new site must stand out and provide a unique and new service
• Those unique services must be “difficult to duplicate” in order for the site to remain competitive

Will Hangouts, the +1 button for ads, and other new features help Google+ traffic go back on the rise, despite some bad press accompanying a lack of enthusiasm from Google+ management and a recent rant from a Google employee?

In a press release yesterday, an optimistic Larry Page, CEO of Google, said Google+ just passed the 40 million user mark, and “People are flocking into Google+ at an incredible rate and we are just getting started!”

Are you using Google+?  If so, what keeps you coming back – and if not, what might lure you back in?