As TechCrunch first reported, [1] Google+ is the next product after Chrome that Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) has chosen to advertise on electronic media. The move is a sign that the social network might be struggling to find users merely through word-of-mouth, and wants to highlight its unique features like Hangout and Circles much more aggressively.
See our full analysis for Google’s stock
While the move can certainly draw in users to try out Google+, the challenge with social networks is not merely to initiate signing up, but to make users stick, much like Facebook. Advertising has certainly worked for Chrome whose market share has increased by around 10% in 2011. The company is hoping that features like Hangout will find favor with users to show some stickiness to Google+, whose user growth is steadily diminishing.
Source: Multiple Web Sources, including TechCrunch, ZDNet and ComScore
We currently have a price estimate near $628 for Google’s stock, which is around 2% below the current market price.
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