Despite continued reports that Google+ is a “failure,” it continues to grow. In
only January, we reported that Google+ was gaining momentum. Reports estimated that Google+ could have 400 million users by the end of 2012. Not bad for a site that only launched in June 2011.
According to The Social Media Data Stacks report sponsored by HubSpot, in only one week, Google+ went from being ranked as the 54th most visited site in social networking to 8th place. When the site was barely three months old (right after moving from “invitation-only” to “open access”), the site received 15 million visits in the US alone. Although, that hardly makes Google+ a contender against Facebook or Twitter, it certainly puts it on the same level as MySpace or LinkedIn.
What does the Google audience look like?
38.4% of visitors range in age from 25 to 34. 18.6% range from 35 to 44 years old. 18.2% are 18-24 years old. 12.7% are aged 45 to 54, and 12.2% are over the age of 55. 27.7% of users make between $60,000 and $99,999. 14.9% make $100,000 to $149,000, and 12.3% make over $150,000 per year.
Although women, aged 18-34, are generally more active on social networks, in the case of Google+, men dominate. SocialStatistics, a third-party site that gathers data from select profiles, pegs the percentage of male users at 6.8%, while FindPeopleOnPlus, which curates information from about a million users, says men constitute 73.7% of Google+.
Mashable.com says: “With around 60% of users identifying themselves as web developers or software engineers, that paints a fairly stereotypical picture of Google+’s userbase: nerdy guys who have deep understandings of technology and who don’t mind killing some time setting up Circles of friends.” Armed with that kind of information, if you own a game store, then perhaps Google+ is for you. If you own a high end fashion clothing store, perhaps it is not (yet).
Have you added your company to Google+ yet? Tell us why or why not!
