‘Monster’ Google+ catching up with social rivals

A US study into "social login" habits has added to increasing evidence that Google+ is the second most popular online social network, after Facebook.

The research from US web development company Janrain found that 46 per cent of those surveyed had used their Facebook account to login or register to other websites, with Google+ responsible for 34 per cent of recorded social logins, which compares to a figure of 6 per cent for Twitter.

The figures feature in a quarterly analysis from Janrain into the social login preferences for online consumers across their customer websites, which include companies such as the BBC, Fox Samsung, Universal, The Economist, EMI, Channel 4, Pfizer and NASDAQ.

High figures
Kevin Shively of Simply Measured, a Seattle, Washington-based social media analytics company, said that Google+ user figures are high in such studies "because Google is a monster".

The company’s senior community manager added: “For a lot of apps and services, it makes life 100 times easier to have a Google login, and that comes packaged with Google+.”

It's another boost for Google+ after social analytics company Searchmetrics suggested in June that, were monthly increases to continue, social sharing activity on Google+ "will overtake Facebook in less than three years in February 2016".

While a recent GlobalWebIndex study found that there were over 359 million active Google+ users online compared to just over 700 million for Facebook and 259 million for Twitter.

But Shivley argues that all of these impressive numbers may not be all they’re cracked up to be. He is, he said, “interested in seeing how those [GlobalWebIndex] numbers correlate with actual use of Google+”.

According to Pete Marcus, director with London-based digital agency Harvard PR, this gigantic Google+ user total is down to the company's broad definition of what constitutes being "active" on the platform.

Marcus, who recently spent time in Google’s UK offices to gain “intensive training in its tools, including Google+, says there are “often blurred lines” when it comes to user figures for Google+ and other social networks. In reality, Google+’s numbers don’t just relate to those who go onto the platform and specifically log in to use its services.

As a Google statement noted, 500 million people have “signed up” for a Google+ profile or account, while according to the company there are actually 390 million people who fall under its definition of “30 day actives” who are either sharing apps in the Google Play platform, “hanging out in Gmail” or “connecting with friends in search”.