Can Google+ Overtake Facebook?

No social network enjoys a better position than Google+ right now. Some statistics already have it as the number 2 social network behind Facebook. According to a December 2012 study by GlobalWebIndex, Facebook has almost 700 million active users to Google+’s 343 million. These numbers are definitely more than a little bit skewed as a login to any number of Google services, including YouTube and Gmail, counts as a login to Google+. Still, there is no doubt that it is consistently growing. Searchmetrics released a study that had +1s growing at a rate of 19% per month on average from November 2012 to April 2013.

This whole situation is reminiscent of the battle of Mac vs. PC, where Facebook represents the generally accepted but commonly lamented PC and Google+ is the cleaner, sexier, and most importantly newer Mac. Facebook seems like it is constantly treading on the toes of its users with new terms of service and consistently more intrusive advertisements. All the while, Google+ flies under the radar. Users notice its clean layout, lack of advertisements, and general ease of use. The only drawback is its lack of users, a problem that time will solve.

Google+ has the added luxury of having the internet giant Google behind it. This is important because of all the added traffic it will get from people who already use Google services, but even more so because of Google’s position as the leading advertising platform on the web. The mistakes that Facebook is making now with their advertisements are ones that an experienced internet advertiser like Google will not make.

Facebook is the established social network of the day, but Google+ on course to usurp that status. It would not be the first time that a major social network fell to a more appealing alternative. Remember MySpace vs. Facebook?