Google+ mobbed after doors opened, experts tell

Enlarge Google+ was mobbed with visitors after the social network opened its doors to the public last week, industry tracker Experian Hitwise reported.Online traffic to Google's nascent social network rocketed 1,269 percent on Wednesday, a day after the Internet titan removed the need to be invited in order to join, according to Hitwise research director Heather Dougherty.The number of visits to Google+ tallied nearly 15 million for the week in a leap from the approximately 1.1 million logged in the prior week, Hitwise analysts concluded.The Hitwise data did not include traffic from mobile gadgets."In just one week, Google+ went from...

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Google+ membership soars past 43m says statistician

Unofficial figures suggest Google+ saw a 30-percent jump in members after throwing open its doors to registrations, with indications that the total user-base could amount to 43.4m. According to tracking data by Paul Allen (not the Microsoft co-founder), Google+ growth in the period following broad availability of the social network matched that of the very earliest days of the closed beta. On September 9, Allen claims, his counting model suggested Google+ had 28.7m users. That figure leapt to 37.8m users by September 22, “with most of the growth coming in the last 2 days”; his modeluses a list of common and uncommon surnames, factoring in...

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Age limit on Google+ users, effecting business?

The new internet networking site Google+ limits the age of users under the age of thirteen, the question is raised, is this banned bracket of youngsters effecting the future of Google+?Google users are in compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), and people under the age of 13 need parental permission to become a member, a long and annoying process… Just like Google, Google+ follow the same rules.Aljazeera posted back in July that an underage user in the Netherlands was deleted off Gmail according to regulations, father of the boy blogged that the boys account had 29 days until the account was to be deleted, but...

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Google+ opens up, takes fight to Facebook

Internet titans Google and Facebook trotted out a variety of new social networking features in back-to-back announcements on Tuesday, underscoring their intensifying competition for Web surfers. Google integrated its flagship search engine into its 3-month old social network -- with membership now open to the Internet public -- and expanded its "Hangouts" video-chat feature to allow mobile use and broadcasting. The company said on its official blog its well-received Hangouts feature -- where up to nine people can link up and chat with a user on video -- will be available on camera equipped smartphones powered by its own Android software....

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The Google+ Rule Regarding Real Names Reveals Internet Marketing Genius

The majority of those familiar with Facebook are up in arms over Google’s resistance to the idea that users should be able to provide any name they wish. Indeed, when creating a Facebook profile one can provide any name they wish, even something that is obviously false. Doing the same thing on Google+ runs the risk of having your account suspended.In the month or so since Google+ hit the public, many people have hoped that the company would give into arguments that their real name rule infringes on privacy rights; privacy is what Google+ hopes to outdo Facebook at accomplishing. But Google has made it clear they have no interest whatsoever in...

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Google+: Consolidation and Integration

So I may have been too focused on a single feature of Google+ in my previous piece, so I’ll continue where I left off. Rather than discussing a feature such as Hangouts, Sparks, and the like in detail, I’m going to focus on the big picture.The big picture is that G+ is severely lacking in user content. The utility of a social network from the user’s perspective is content. Users want to what they’re friends are doing or saying. Think of the badness of MySpace: tons of vacuous celebrity or upcoming film profiles with members but of little actual substances besides gaudy HTML templates and fake spammer accounts.Based on current trends (again,...

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Facebook lets users track posts from strangers

SAN FRANCISCO - Facebook is letting members follow strangers Twitter-style in the latest of a barrage of data maelstrom-taming moves since rival social network Google+ launched in June."Google+ was a major wake-up call for Facebook," said analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group in Silicon Valley."They were awakened to the fact that they could be another MySpace; so they suddenly got very aggressive on moving the ball forward so they couldn't get caught," he added.MySpace was the dominant online social network until it was eclipsed by Facebook.Google+ combined aspects of Facebook and microblogging sensation Twitter, and promised users that sharing...

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LONDON: Social networking giant Facebook has unveiled its new friends list system that would allow users to categorize groups of friends more easily. Facebook's updated 'Friend Lists system', is seen as a reaction to the Circles feature on Google+. Users would now have better control over how their connections are grouped, with some lists, such as work and family, created automatically. According to the report, the new Smart Lists feature will create categories based on the relationship between a user and their friends. Now, new "close friends" and "acquaintances" lists would allow users to filter who they see updates from. The changes appear...

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Google Plus Tips: Rename circle in Google Plus [How To]

Google Plus circles are the best way to organize the list of people you follow or are friend with. It is one of the major feature of Google Plus which differentiate it from Facebook and Twitter. You can add one to more than one circle and can create as many circles as you want. You can also share post only with one circle or multiple circles too. While creating a new circle, Google Plus asks to enter a new name for circle which sometimes people create with any logical name and add people to it. But once they have many people in their circle, then they have to organize the people and might also have to rename their Google Plus circles.Renaming...

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Google+ privacy features update:to lock your Google+ Photos

Google+’s privacy features always been welcomed,and here is another update feature from the Google+ Photo team.Google+ Photos is a great way to share your favorite memories with your different circles. But sometimes you want to limit how your photos are shared. So Google+ Photo Team is rolling out the ability to lock an album, which prevents others from resharing it.Here is the post about this update from Google+ photo team member, Matt Steiner, check it outYou can lock an album from two places — your Photos page, or album posts in the Stream — and when you do a few things happen:- Viewers won’t be able to +mention new people-...

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Does the Impressive Growth Rate of Google+ Make it a Competitor Against Facebook and Twitter?

By now, you’ve probably heard of Google+, the new social network created by Google that has taken the internet world by storm. What you may not know is that the platform is already considered the fastest growing of its kind. It took both Facebook and Twitter well over two years to reach the milestone of 10 million users. Google was able to do it in just over two weeks.The platform is growing at a tremendous rate, but does that make it a worthy foe to the two biggest players in the social space? While that still remains to be seen, Google+ has some exclusive qualities that give it all the potential to be a serious competitor.User-Generated RecommendationsA...

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Google+ causes stir with Suggested User list

Social network tries to help users find interesting people to follow; critics say it's elitistGoogle+ is trying to help users expand their Circles by offering them a new Suggested User list. The only problem is that some users are taking exception to what they're calling an elitist system.Late last week, Google's new social network, Google+ , posted the list in an attempt to help users who want new people to follow but aren't sure how to do that. Increasing followers also would boost the "sticky factor" of the new site and possibly make Google + more popular in the social networking world.The list includes tech-related people including Mike...

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The battle between Google and Facebook

Facebook has recently launched a couple of new services similar to features on Google+. The latest Facebook update includes a new status update box that looks almost the same as the status update box on Google+ where you can add a location to your update and select which of your friend groups can view your update.For people not familiar with Google+, how “Circles” works is that you can add and categorize people that you are interested in following into circles that you create. When you post something new on Google+, you can select which circles will be able to view your content.It was really only a matter of time before Facebook implemented...

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GOOGLE BRINGS +1 BUTTON TO ANDROID, IOS MOBILE DEVICES

Google has now fabricated accessible the +1 button on adaptable accessories as able-bodied which will accredit the users to get absorbed to the alfresco apple aural atom of a second. This was what users had been absent from so abounding canicule and eventually is now fabricated true.Google+ Games and Mobile’s advance artefact administrator Punit Soni said that the availability of the +1 button on Android 2.1+ and iOS 4.0+ browsers should advice users accomplish recommendations on the web alike while on the go. Talking anon about the technology part, Android is an operating arrangement for adaptable accessories such as smartphones and book computers....

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5 cool things Google+ does that Facebook can’t :)

So Google+ was launched not too long back and only a lucky few got by-invitation only exclusive invites to Google’s social network…  Today, Google+ is still in that exclusive by-invitation mode and managed to slam dunk the competition by growing the fastest with over 10 million users in under 16 days! So what’s SO cool about Google+? I’ve blogged an entire entry about Google+ but this time, I’d like to focus on some of the cool things Google+ can do that Facebook can’t  I #5 filter out the noiseSometimes you want to see only updates & photos from your family members instead of seeing photos of salivating...

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Google+ Games: What It Needs to Beat Facebook

When the magical gaming tab first appeared on my Google+ bar I was excited. Dreams of a better social gaming world danced through my head. Finally, real competition was coming to social networks, and as my Economics professors in college used to say, “When companies compete, the customer wins.” Well, this customer was ready to win. I was primed to see what next-gen social gaming would be like.All signs pointed to something auspicious. The slow roll out, “by invite only” launch, limited game content aided by the powerful precedent set in other areas of Google+ (like not allowing people to use false names) seemed to foreshadow something truly...

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63 Days Later, Google+ is Not (Yet) Close to Facebook

The launch of Google Plus on 29th June, 2011 brought a revolution in the blogosphere, even though not in the intended social networking world. Bloggers, techies, and social networks all across the world frantically started asking for invites, in the meantime going through the demo videos and blogging/discussing on FB. Those who could lay their hands on invites were impressed, or at least showed so on Facebook, Twitter, Yammer, Blogspot, WordPress, and what not. Google worshippers turned into Google Plus evangelists, providing free service.What Is Google PlusEveryone was curious and everybody tried to be a part of it all. HBO made the quick...

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Google+ Visitors’ Time Spent on Social Site Has Stagnated, Hitwise Reports

The amount of time U.S. users spend on Google Inc. (GOOG)’s new social network has grown more slowly in recent weeks, according to Experian Hitwise, indicating that the service may struggle to make headway against Facebook Inc.Users on average spent 5 minutes and 47 seconds on Google+ during the week ended Aug. 27, up about 4 percent from the previous week, according to New York-based Experian Hitwise, which tracks Internet statistics. Time spent on the site peaked in the week of July 16, at 5 minutes, 50 seconds, Hitwise said.Google+ is the company’s latest effort to help it compete against Palo Alto, California-based Facebook, the world’s...

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