Google+ Visits Down 3% ... Already

Less than a month after its big launch, Google+ has hit its first minus: Usage declined 3% to 1.79 million visits last week, reports Bloomberg. What's more, time spent on the new social media site dropped 10%, falling to 5 minutes to 15 seconds. It's important to note Experian Hitwise's numbers include neither international nor mobile web traffic, and Google+ is technically still in "limited beta," writes MG Siegler of Techcrunch. But when your prime competition has 750 million users, any setback can be daunting.

Since making its debut June 28, Google+ quickly rose to 20 million users in just three weeks. "There was a sense of excitement: Could this really be the next big social network?" writes Siegler. But "after initially checking it several times a day, I now load Google+ about twice a day, mainly to see if I’m missing anything. I rarely find that I am. I +1 a few things here and there, maybe leave a comment. But overall, the content feels fairly stale. The new car smell is wearing off. And it’s time for reality." And that reality? "User retention is a bitch," says Siegler. (More Facebook stories.)