Is Google Plus traffic increasing or decreasing?

The buzz in the press seems to indicate a story of success, However, Chitika Insights analyzed a series of traffic dating back to the launch of Google+ to determine the reliability of these statements.

Since its launch, Google+ has undergone a surge in use, peaking at .007% of total web traffic on July 20th – a massive increase of users over a relatively short amount of time. 

According to Chitikas’s numbers Google+ experienced a 34% erosion of its traffic from July 20th to July 31st. As Gabriel Donnini, dataanalyst of Chikita, points out to Pandia these results are in stark contrast to an earlier Insights study which indicated a 300% increase in the interest for Google+ from July 3rd to July 11th.

 

A quick glance at the above graph may indicate that Google+ has begun its decline almost as quickly its rise to the top. Other sites also report that they see a downward trend in Google+ traffic, in the sense of referrals.

However, according to Donnini, this temporary setback may have been induced by initial bugginess in the beta release, combined by the “invite only” restriction. It also has restricted use to personal profiles, which has limited the functionality for businesses. 

Donnini argues that if Google continues to integrate Google+ across its vast mix of services, remedies some of its issues and bugs, and opens its borders to public use, perhaps Google+ will resume its upwards trend of growth. Some will argue that this has already happened.

On July 14 Larry Page announced that Google+ had 10 million users. According to Comscore Google+ had as many as 25 million users on August 2, indicating an impressive growth. But remember that an increase in the number of users does not necessarily lead to an increase in traffic, as some members may post less or cease posting altogether.

A Bloomberg survey indicates that Google+ may grow to claim 22 percent of online U.S. adults in a year, passing Twitter and LinkedIn to be the second- most-used social site after Facebook.

In other words: The jury is still out as regards the future success of Google Plus, but the numbers are certainly impressive.