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"According to the Wall Street Journal, new data from comScore on Google+ shows that the social network isn't doing as well as expected.\r\n\r\nWe've reported on how major users are clocking up the follower numbers, with Britney Spears shooting past the 2 million follower mark, and even Google+ pages\u00A0reaching\u00A01 million followers.\u00A0But\u00A0according to comScore's figures, users might be circling away on Google+, but aren't staying on the social network long enough to do anything else.\r\n\r\nThe latest figures released by Google put the total user count at 90 million, with a reported daily engagement rate of 60%. At the time, Marketing Land was quick to\u00A0call out Google\u00A0on the figure, saying that it related to\u00A0all\u00A0of Google's products, not just its social network.\r\nUsers spend 3 minutes per month on Google+\r\nNow, ComScore's figures are also telling a very different story, saying that users spent an average of only 3 minutes per month on Google+ between September and January. It is also worth nothing that this figure does not include mobile usage.\r\n\r\nGoogle has been doing its best to drive traffic from its search engine to the social network by placing Google+ profiles front and centre. The move was quick to trigger an outcry over antitrust issues, and doesn't appear to have done too much to convince Google search users to spend any time on the social network.\r\n\r\nThe inevitable comparison between Facebook, Google and Twitter, has put Google+ in second place, ahead of Twitter when it comes to its growth rate. Some figures put Google+'s brand page growth rate at\u00A0four times faster than Twitter.\r\n\r\nWe already know that these figures are nothing in comparison to the following that brands have garnered on Facebook, but time spent - the one figure that Google has steadfastly refused to publicly discuss - apparently is its Achille's heel.\r\nUsers spend 7 hours per month on Facebook\r\nIn comparison, Facebook dwarfs Google+ in terms of time spent. According to WSJ, that figure currently stands at 7 hours a month. Last September, figures were revealed\u00A0that 16% of a user's time online per day is spent on Facebook.\r\n\r\nFor all its features, Google+ may simply have come into the picture too late. While it has a buzzing and active photography community engaging with one another, if comScore's figures are to be believed - there might not be much beyond that.\r\n\r\nWhile the growth rates are impressive, they mean nothing if a user signs up and never returns. Have we had our fill of social networks? Maintaining a Google+, Twitter and Facebook account\u00A0certainly does prove to be challenging, let alone other niche and mobile options available to users such as Instagram and Path.\r\n\r\nLooking at it from a marketing point of view is where the real problems begin to appear. But something tells us that Google knows exactly what its doing. Advertising has yet to be introduced on the site, so clearly it knows that the social network isn't ready. Yet.\r\nDo these figures matter?\r\nComScore's figures are courtesy of a third party, so should they be taken with a grain of salt? Even if they should, if Google had stellar engagement and time spent rates, would they not have shared them along with their impressive sign up rate?\r\n\r\nBut as our own Drew Olanoff said, Google isn't sharing these figures because Google doesn't have\u00A0to share them. Engagement on Google+ and Facebook are very different beasts. As we've said again and again, there is far more to be considered, including how people are actually\u00A0using the service.\r\n\r\nThese figures will no doubt be the start of yet another round of 'Google+ is dead' articles. Google+ has been around for about 9 months, and the question is, when\u00A0do\u00A0we really begin to give up on the social network?\r\n\r\nGiving up on the service within 9 months seems extremely hasty, considering that neither Facebook nor Twitter reached their current engagement rates in the space of 9 months."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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