If the algorithms are all working right, then Google+’s “unofficial statistician” Paul Allen believes that Google+ now has over 43 million users. Allen, whose name you might know as being the founder of Ancestry.com has a method whereby he estimates the total number of users on Google+ based upon uncommon surnames.
In the past, according to PlusHeadlines, Allen has been startlingly accurate:
- July 4th – 1.7 million users
- July 9th – 4.5 million users
- July 12 – 10 million users
- September 9th – 28.7 million users
- September 22nd – 43.4 million users
These numbers tie up almost exactly with confirmed reports that we’ve seen in the past, as well as our own findings from Google employees.
When you consider that Google+ is just barely 3 months old, the growth is huge. In fact, Allen posits that in the past 2 days since the public has been able to access the service without an invitation, there has been a 30% growth.
The stats leave me to question exactly what keeps drawing people in at such a rapid rate. Are people really backlashing against Facebook? A reported 800 million users seem to be just fine on the site, especially after recent changes to privacy. But maybe it’s a combination of just wanting a change, and Google’s rollout of comprehensive new features for its own network that has spurred momentum.
We’ve dropped a line to Google to get some confirmation, but given Allen’s track record it seems very likely that he’s dead on, or at least very close.
After watching f8 yesterday I really wish G+ the best of luck since Zuck is such a freaking douche.
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LikeAmazing!!!
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Likefb copied google+.. but i feel like there is great improvement in fb profiles which i saw in F8
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LikeWith that kind of growth I think we can expect it to easily overtake Twitter by the end of October. So if anybody should be (and probably is) worried, it should be Twitter.
The real tipping point should be reached by the end of the year, where I think we will see it being talked about in everyday life as much as Facebook or Twitter.
As far as Facebook is concerned, we shouldn't be looking so much at the Google+ stats, but more the Facebook stats.
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LikeDoes this really have to be about privacy? A wise acquaintance once said that Facebook is like tobacco in that a lot of people who use it wish they used it less. I think there's plenty of potential for a full-featured, user-friendly alternative with enough brand recognition to assure users that it won't vanish overnight. Google+ fits that bill, and I think the results speak for themselves.
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