Will Google Plus Put Facebook Out of Business? | Search Engine ...

I?m seeing similar usage behaviors on Google+ that I saw on Facebook while MySpace was still the leader. That is, while looking at the Nielsen numbers above for Google+, the number of fans that popular celebrities have, and the number of people I personally know who have a Google+ profile, I?m noticing that although the number of sign-ups and users per month are apparently growing nicely, the majority of people in my circles aren?t yet fully active on Google+ (the average date of last posting is mid-October from my non-SEO circles), and if these people are active on Google+, they exhibit different social media behaviors than they do on Facebook.

What now seems like ancient history, Remember that most Myspace users migrated over to Facebook over the period of a year or so, and during this time they were active on both websites, but maintained slightly different personas on each (many people matured and changed their social media usage and behaviors once on Facebook, most probably due to Facebook?s more mature and professional environment ). I?m seeing a similar thing happening with users migrating over to Google+ from Facebook: The method of transition, and the change in user behavior (Google+ is different than and once again more mature than Facebook?almost to a fault, more on that in a bit?and I?m seeing the similar transition effects happen).

With this said, there?s two big things I see right now that are keeping Google+ from growing and displacing Facebook the same way that Facebook displaced MySpace and other (including foreign) sites:

1) First and foremost, Facebook is a platform, whilst Google+ is just a website. It?s true. 3rd party apps and 3rd party integration isn?t what kick-started Facebook and it isn?t what?s keeping them alive (although Farmville?s 80 million monthly users and billions of hours spent online by users in its prime was certainly not peanuts) all the various business and entertainment possibilities that Facebook has, Google+ still lacks and will lack for the foreseeable future. Myspace started the social platform idea with its music and musician support (remember the embeded music player on profiles and the link to the artist?s MySpace page? Brilliant), but then dropped the ball and Facebook quickly picked it up and expanded to every other area besides music. Here?s a brilliant (accidently published) blog post about platforms by a slightly disgruntled Google and ex-Amazon employee. You must read this:

Also, before attacking the other reason that I think is limiting Google+?s growth, it?s worth mentioning that Facebook is currently the defacto sharing and social feature of most websites throughout the world (think ?Like? button and ?Like box? along with Facebook?s Open Graph integration which provides invaluable data to website owners), and at the time of Myspace?s demise, Myspace didn?t have such massive-scale 3rd party website integration (actually it didn?t have any). Changing over to Google?s ?+1? isn?t very fruitful for most sites, and certainly not for brands which have a large presence and marketing efforts invested into facebook with the abovementioned integration (custom landing pages, custom aps, tabs, iframes etc.)

2)The second greatest thing limiting Google+?s growth is that it?s borderline too professional and ?mature? for most users. Facebook did the world a favor by ridding the web of immature browser-crashing Myspace pages with all their bad JavaScript, CSS and animated GIF hacks, but Google+ offers no such advantage to new users and the Internet as a whole. I?m running out of time (and probably maximum comment character limits on SEJ), but to me Google+ comes across as more of a professional networking tool, ala LinkedIn, rather than a fun social tool that Myspace was, and Facebook still is. I think society as a whole has reached a ?maturity peak? with regards to social media, and Google+ can?t really raise the bar anymore, at least not for a few years. There really isn?t anything attracting people to be active and transition over to Google+, and the only way Google can overcome it is to simply get most Facebook users to sign up and try Google+, and hope they stick. Good luck, we shall see their approach.

That?s it, end of my rant? Some parting advice to anyone who?s read this far and seems a bit gloomy about the future of social sites and whether they?ll be fun any more, do yourself a favor and sign up to Pinterest and see just how amazingly addictive, fun and free a different type of social sharing can be, and more importantly, if you have a website or are an SEO, how much traffic and conversions it can send your way. E.g., they?ve grown 2000% in the last 6 months, as a testament to their awesomeness (It?s invitation only still, and if you don?t know anyone who is a member, just visit my site (link at top of comment) and send me an email and I?ll send you an invite). Thanks for reading.

Source: http://www.searchenginejournal.com/facebook-google-plus-growth/38337/

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