Five Reasons Google+ Won't Die

A few weeks in, the honeymoon period is over for Google+ and it seems like some people are already losing interest. Yes, the backlash has already begun. But is Google+ going to fail? In a word: No+.

Google+ had 1.79 million visits for the week ending July 23, a decrease of 3 percent compared with the previous week when the network had 1.86 million visits, Experian Hitwise reported. Even worse, people are spending less time on the site. The average visit was 10 percent shorter, down from 5 minutes 50 seconds to 5 minutes 15 seconds.

Worrying signs for what is supposed to be the great Facebook toppler, but is all the doom and gloom necessary? Sure, it's been a rough week for Google+ with a series of avoidable missteps. Having no option for businesses has proved naive and Facebook is clearly looking to capitalize.

• Review: Google Plussed

Google acknowledges the issue but admits it won't have a solution for another few months. More problematic though was Google's decision to start deleting user accounts, an attempt to enforce a policy that requires everyone to use their real name — which on the surface is totally reasonable but not when the company lurks in the shadows, quietly and inadvertently banning a good chunk of innocent accounts. Google promises better communication going forward.

Even such shortcomings don't seem enough to stop the fresh social networks apparently unstoppable momentum. If anything, Google may be a victim of its own success. In an earnings call last week, Google chief Larry Page dropped some crazy numbers:

Mr. Page said that over 10 million people had already joined Google+ since launch and were sharing a billion items a day. These numbers are even more impressive when you consider that the social network launched just a little over three weeks ago and is still available only by invitation.

This kind of growth is completely unprecedented — and those are just Google's numbers. Hitwise estimates that number could be closer to 20 million after last weekend. These numbers are simply ridiculous and while it is true that they have the Google brand and platform to bank on, we all know what happened with Buzz. With Google artificially stifling supply and likewise clearing out spam accounts, a leveling out of growth isn't totally unexpected.

Moreover, it's clear the social network has yet to fully hit its stride — there simply isn't enough content yet to keep people glued. But that doesn't mean it won't happen eventually and in the case of Google+, probably sooner rather than later.

What Google+ does have is a remarkably solid foundation and fantastic mindshare. Here are 5 reasons why Google+ is the real deal and why its success may already be a foregone conclusion.

I'm not sure about you, but I've been suffering from social network fatigue for quite a while. I've barely used Twitter in over a year and I still don't get the point of LinkedIn. What's beautiful about Google+ is that it theoretically eliminates the need for anything else (Tim Wu, chime in whenever about information monopolies).

Perhaps my favorite benefit of Google+ is that it could very well make Twitter redundant, a social service I've long had a love-hate relationship with.

Google+ provides all of Twitter's functionality but wrapped neatly within its own platform. Better yet, Google puts you in the driver seat in terms of who you "tweet" to, not just whose tweets you see. This, to me is huge. Oh, and you're not limited to 140 characters.

Even better, Google+ seamlessly integrates the services I use the most, like e-mail — the original, and to me, still most useful social network out there — in a way that perfectly maintains my current utility without adding further platform clutter, besides that discrete black bar everyone started to see a few weeks ago.

Unlike Facebook, Google is in the prime position to start from scratch and do things right. While Zuck and co. have had to compromise certain philosophical ideas for pure profits, Google has the luxury of other income streams fueling their new baby's growth — it doesn't have to be a constant battle between ethics and dollar bills.

And for the most part, it seems that Google isn't taking its newfound position for granted. Practically everything, from status updates to your profile visibility, is opt-in. Looks like they've learned from not only Facebook's mistakes but also their own hiccups with Buzz. Let's hope it stays that way.

One of the great things of any new potentially game-changing, industry defining release is that it becomes an automatic filter. Knowing how very little I care about the majority of my Facebook friends, Zuckerberg has thankfully implemented a news feed algorithm protecting me from all the noise and while I am often surprised by its effectiveness, I've never quite liked being the victim of an imperfect formula. Google+ feels like a hip new party: great crowd, no lines, and a friendly spacious venue.

Of course, not even the best parties last forever and Google+ will have to deal with the same issues as other social networks when it inevitably reaches new levels of popularity.

But that may not happen for some time, mainly because of how insurmountably entrenched Facebook currently is. People can make comparisons to MySpace but I don't think those predicting a quick demise give the site enough credit. To me, MySpace always felt like a gimmick, a hodgepodge Wild West of meaningless drivel and way too much noise. Facebook has, for many years now, provided real utility and has reshaped how we use the Internet and how we communicate with our friends.

As such, I see Google+ working in tandem with the giant incumbent, at least for the medium term. Because while Google+ might have the progressive techies, the cute girls are still on Facebook.

I've never quite understood why but every Facebook app I've used, from Blackberry to Android, has been complete and utter crap, an experience that has always left me frustrated and confused — not to mention it took these guys over a year to release anything for the iPad. More often than not, I'd rather just access Facebook via the browser.

Then comes Google and they get it right on their first try — everything I want is quick, effecient and intuitive. Well done.

Never quite the charismatic champion we expect to spearhead one of most important tech companies in recent history, Mark Zuckerberg is the epitome of awkward. Though clearly brilliant, he's never seemed completely trustworthy . From his time as a socially inept Harvard grad to that viral occasion of him sweating profusely onstage when called out about Facebook's privacy woes, Zuckerberg has never been a guy who seems like he's on your team.

Sure, The Social Network’s portrayal of him is clearly dramatized but even in hyperbole there is an iota of truth. He did it for the girls.

On the flipside, you have Sergei Brin and Larry Page, two idealistic PhDs who were simply looking for a more elegant way to index the Internet. They were ambitious but you never got the sense that they were trying to take over the world. Indeed, in the late 90's they tried to sell what would later become Google to Excite for a measly $1 million. When online conglomerate didn't bite, the two would-be founders offered to drop their price to $750,000. We all know how the story plays out next.

This is Facebook's ultimate problem. People don't trust them and, moreso, many are rooting for them to fail. They've been waiting for the next best thing. They're sick of having their privacy settings changed without notice. They're sick of having to opt-out of everything. They're sicking of never truly having control.

Or maybe they're just sick of Facebook.