Following the skepticism about Google+ usage, Google decided to give some numbers to The New York Times. Reports Nick Bilton:
In response to the public perception of Google Plus, the company said it has decided to share some of the user numbers for Google Plus. On a daily basis, 50 million people who have created a Google Plus account actively use the company’s Google Plus-enhanced products, Mr. Gundotra said. Over a 30-day period, he said, that number is 100 million active users.
Big numbers. But…
This is where the image problem gets a little bit blurry.
Although these numbers sound impressive, the catch is that Google Plus-enhanced properties include YouTube, the Android Marketplace and Google.com, the company’s flagship search engine. Yet Google contends that these numbers illustrate that more than 100 million people have signed up for a Google Plus account and are now actively engaging with Google Plus-related products across the company.
The key is how exactly Google measures “actively” here. For most services, it has typically been enough to say they’re interacting with the site/service in some way. But that’s at the very least tricky (and at the very worst misleading) with Google because they’ve baked Google+ into many of their previously popular products.
AIl I know what is what I see with my eyes. Basically no one I know that doesn’t work at Google and isn’t Robert Scoble uses Google+ regularly. Maybe my social circle is weird. But it never has been in the past. It’s always been a very good indicator of network strength.
MG’s social circle may be weird (for all I know he and Arrington hang out at crazy Eyes Wide Shut parties hosted by VC billionaires)…but it’s not alone in its lack of G+ usage.
I dont believe that anyone who (a) isn’t Scoble or (b) doesn’t include “social media guru” (or something that will feel equally dated in two years) in their list of job titles is using Google+, and won’t change that opinion until I see evidence to the contrary.
TrojanWire 