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Traffic to Google+ spiked 1,200% in the first few days following its public launch Sept. 20, but has since plummeted by 60%, according to a report from a data analytics company.
Chitika tracked Google+ traffic before and after the social networking service opened its gates to all users.
The data shows that, on the day of its public debut, Google+ traffic skyrocketed to peak levels. But, soon after, traffic fell by over 60% as it returned to its normal, underwhelming state, Chitika says of its findings, as illustrated in the chart below.
Google+ hit 25 million unique visitors in its first month of operation, comScore found, making it one of the fastest growing social networks of all time. Google+ has since released a slew of updates and new features, and opened its doors to the public. It has even had public figures broadcast to fans via Google Hangouts.
But is Google+ a hit or miss? Its hard to say. In mid July, Google CEO Larry Page revealed the Facebook-challenger had 10 million users who share 1 billion items each day. We havent heard from the company on how Google+ has grown in users, shares or traffic since. The most recent unofficial count pegged the number of Google+ users at 43 million.
Meanwhile, Chitikas findings likely a representation of traffic patterns and not a wholly accurate reflection seem to suggest Google+ may not be convincing new users (or even Google executives) to stick around.
Mashable has reached out to Google for comment.
