Google Plus Traffic Declines 3% Over One Week(readwriteweb.com)
readwriteweb.com
Google Plus Traffic Declines 3% Over One Week
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/google_plus_traffic_declines_3_over_one_week.php
3 comments
Can anyone tell me why HN is so obsessed with G+? This is a real question. I've mostly forgotten about it, and I work there.
I'll take a shot at this: I think G+ is possibly the most comprehensive (in terms of design and functionality) new product in the social space right now. Since it comes from Google, who have the history of "revolutionizing" various aspects of the web, hackers want to learn more and put G+ in perspective of existing (competing?) products. This makes it very interesting not only to read about how to fit G+ into the current framework (Twitter-but-longer? LinkedIn-killer? Facebook-killer?) but also follow the minutiae of the growth, adoption, and evolution of G+ (much like they would have taken to GMail, if the timelines had overlapped, imo).
Because we're human, we anthropomorphise companies, and G+ resembles a power/status move in a monkey troupe.
Google employees care because Larry Page said your bonus depends on the success of social.
I care because if it fails, then it will be demoralizing to the company. Google will quickly become the new Microsoft, where investors and potential hires see the company as a stodgy old company that can't innovate. The press will pounce on google for Google+/Wave/Buzz. Android will be seen as the only bright spot, and even that is out shined by Apple.
If it is successful, then it means that other social businesses aren't nearly as valuable as VCs thought they were. If Google+ is successful, no one is going to pay close to $50B for facebook when it comes time to IPO. It will be the end of the social tech bubble.
I care because if it fails, then it will be demoralizing to the company. Google will quickly become the new Microsoft, where investors and potential hires see the company as a stodgy old company that can't innovate. The press will pounce on google for Google+/Wave/Buzz. Android will be seen as the only bright spot, and even that is out shined by Apple.
If it is successful, then it means that other social businesses aren't nearly as valuable as VCs thought they were. If Google+ is successful, no one is going to pay close to $50B for facebook when it comes time to IPO. It will be the end of the social tech bubble.
What is the point of this article besides attracting pageviews and presenting statistically insignificant and unconfirmed data?
But is that result even accurate? It doesn't include mobile traffic. For something like this, a scenario where people start out on the site and then migrate to more mobile use is quite believable. The data is leaving out what has been established to be a core market for social networking products.