Social Network Battle Has Begun: Google+ Opens To Public

 Google’s answer to Facebook has officially gone live, meaning that anyone can now join the web giant’s social networking platform, Google+. 

Until now, Google+ had only been available to people who received invitations from existing users or Google employees. 

In what is set to be a social network battle, Google+ is by far the search company’s most ambitious product in its attempt to challenge Facebook’s unrivaled popularity and success.

 Google’s answer to Facebook has officially gone live, meaning that anyone can now join the web giant’s social networking platform, Google+. 

Until now, Google+ had only been available to people who received invitations from existing users or Google employees. 

In what is set to be a social network battle, Google+ is by far the search company’s most ambitious product in its attempt to challenge Facebook’s unrivaled popularity and success.

Launched in late June, Google+ has already garnered 25 million members and expects to reach 100 million users by the end of 2011. In contrast, it took Facebook 10 months to reach 1 million users in 2004. Facebook, however, already has 750 million users, with a staggering 1 trillion hits per month.

Related: Facebook has One Trillion Hits Per Month

Related: Facebook To Delay IPO Till Late 2012?

[quote] “For the past 12 weeks we’ve been in field trial and during that time we’ve listened and learned a great deal,” Google senior vice president of engineering Vic Gundotra wrote on the company’s blog. “We are nowhere near done, but with the improvements we’ve made so far we’re ready to move from field trial to beta.” [/quote]

The launch was also celebrated on Google’s main search page, with a special blue arrow doodle pointing to the new “+You” button which links users to the Google+ page.

What is Google+? 

Get more Facebook statistics from our very own Econ Stats Database.