Google+ experienced a 1,269 percent gain in traffic last week, just after the social network opened to all, a data analysis firm reported.
The new social network jumped 1,269 percent, going from 54th most-visited social networking site to No. 8, according to Experian Hitwise. That means that Google+ is now more popular than MySpace.
Opening access created a massive spike in market share of visits for the site, with a 1269% growth from the week ending September 17th to the week of September 24th. The site also received nearly 15 million total US visits last week.
Heather Dougherty, director of research at Experian, wrote that the Google+ audience is moving quickly from "innovator" and "early adopter" to "early majority." She cites that many of the new populations she sees in Google+ now, such as "Hispanic Harmony" and "Striving Singles," have a lower-to-middle income profile. This change in its audience may mean it's shifting into the "early majority stage."
The site did jump from 1.1 million visits to 15 million with a week, showing that just scoring an invitation to the new social network was a barrier for many people. Now with that barrier gone, we might see just how extensive the new social network can be.
