Is Google+ failng?

Last week brought a number of stories that Google+ may not be performing as planned. The Wall Street Journal’s Amir Efrati (@Amir_Efrati) reported:

It turns out Google+ is a virtual ghost town compared with the site of rival Facebook Inc., which is preparing for a massive initial public offering. New data from research firm comScore Inc. shows that Google+ users are signing up—but then not doing much there. Visitors using personal computers spent an average of about three minutes a month on Google+ between September and January, versus six to seven hours on Facebook each month over the same period, according to comScore, which didn’t have data on mobile usage.

The problem may be as simple as  Google+ being one too many social networks. Per Internet strategist, Brian Solis:

Nobody wants another social network right now. For those who already use Facebook, Google hasn’t communicated what the value of Google+ is.

Though companies are getting traction in followers on Google+, engagement is a fraction of what it is at Facebook.

Intel Corp. said 360,000 Google+ members have signed up to receive updates from the chip maker since it set up a brand presence on the site. But Ekaterina Walter, who manages Intel’s presence on social media sites, said activity on the company’s Google+ account is “not as great as we were hoping it was going to be.” While Intel gets dozens of responses to its posts on Google+ Ms. Walter said the company has nine million “fans” on Facebook and gets thousands of comments there.

Though Google+ is impacting Google’s search by bringing social search to Google (you receive high in search results relevant items shared by those in your social circle), Google is not drawing search traffic the way it has in the past.

Facebook and Twitter helped change the way people discover new things on the Web, rivaling Google as the chief gateway to the Internet. Much of the activity on Facebook is private and can’t be accessed by Google’s search engine, making search less useful as people spend more time on Facebook.

I use Google+ intermittently mostly to hedge my bet. I don’t want to be caught with my pants down should an aging body of content on Google+ be a relevant measure of influence or impact search in a more significant way in the future. Most lawyers and other legal professionals who were quick to jump on Google+ are becoming luke warm. Though I am still receiving a good number of followers on Google+, I am not seeing the level of legal discussion I saw on Google+ four or five months ago. Shortly after Google+ started I generated much more commentary on my blog posts on Google+ than on my blog itself. No longer, comments are much greater now on my blog than Google+. Josh Lynch, a project manager at LexBlog and long standing digital publisher, believes Google+ is a failure. I respect what Josh tells me and he sees no one one in his age group taking to Google+ in any significant way. No question law firms are still interested in Google+. We had over 200 attendees at a recent LexBlog Network member webinar reviewing Google+ for business development. It’s hard to say whether the interest was more out of curiosity than true interest in using Google+ for networking. I don’t think Google+ is dead. Google is a powerful company and has invested a lot in Google+, from both a financial and reputation standpoint. But I don’t believe Google+ is getting the traction Google desired.