Chitika Insights has covered the heavily publicized launch of Google+ amidst a variety of reported statistics, some which stated that Google+ hosted a user base comprised of over 40 Million people, others which described the fledgling social network as nothing more than a ghost town. Initially, traffic on Google+ saw a rapid rate of growth, but was accompanied by a period of significant decline. Since then, Chitika Insights has been regularly keeping tabs on the condition of Google+, in order to determine the relative success of the social network.

Between the months of September to November, Google+ saw a 118% increase in overall online activity. From September to October Google+ posted the biggest growth figures (55%), followed by a growth in online activity of 41% between October and November, as seen in the graph below.

The graph above shows activity index for Google+ between September 2011 and November 2011. The highest level of activity observed receives a value of 100, and the other data points are simply a function thereof.The arrows represent the percentage increase in activity witnessed between month to month data sets, all of which were sampled in the second week of each respective month.We used a referrer distribution methodology to conduct this report. For more on the methodology see: https://insights.chitika.com/2011/our-referrer-distribution-methodology-a-chitika-special-report/

This level of growth may be supported by several key factors:

  • Google has been successfully integrating Google+ across its wide range of services (Android, Google Apps, Search)
  • Google has been heavily advertising Google+ across different channels including television spots and online placements, hoping to connect with a main-stream audience
  • Google has remained dedicated to increasing the functionality and accessibility of Google+ to the public and has plans for rapid releases of new features over the course of 2012

New reports suggest there are an estimated 62 million users on the social network, and our traffic index indicates a clear rise in activity as well. However, because Google holds raw data proprietary, they will be the only source to tell us if the activity is based on active users or new user sign ups.

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