Although Facebook still has a dominant grasp on the social media market, Google+ has shown some impressive progress in its relatively brief existence. Experian Hitwise reported 49 million US visits to Google+ in December, which is a dramatic 55% increase over the previous month of November. Hitwise also reported that Google+ has experienced growth in eight out of the past nine weeks.
According to analyst Paul Allen, December 2011 was the strongest month yet for Google+, a time in which the service reached 62 million members. Additionally, 25% of the total user base signed up in the month of December alone.
Why are these numbers so impressive? It took Facebook a whole four years to reach 60 million users, a milestone that Google+ has reached in a matter of months. Allen expects Google+ to reach 400 million users by the end of 2012, which is half of Facebookâs current number of active members. Although Facebook will surely maintain a strong lead for the near future, Google+ looks to be the first social media service to pose a serious threat to the social media giant.
December 2011: Record Month for Google+
