Facebook leads social log ins, Google+ a strong second

Social log ins allow people to use a social network to log in to other websites

Facebook is the biggest social network in the world. I know, I know, that is not news, as it has been that way for years. But with social media having been so heavily dominated for so long, the more interesting question has to fall to which of the other networks is coming in at number two?

Is it Twitter, which has been recently honing its monetization strategy in advance of its IPO? Or perhaps LinkedIn, which has seen some fantastic user and revenue growth in the last few quarters?

Actually, it is Google that is closing the gap on Facebook in terms of social logins, at least according to a new study released by Janrain on Monday. And beyond those two network it isn't even close.

So what is a "social login"? It is when someone uses a social network in order to log in to another website. For example, we at Vator use Facebook to authenticate our users. 

As Janrain explains it, a social login "solves the registration challenge by making it possible to use those identities to easily sign up and log in on sites across the web." Combined, more than 2.5 billion people maintain accounts with these services.

So how do the social networks stack up?

In the second quarter of 2012, Google had 34% of social logins, second only to Facebook's 46%. After that, no other network even gets double digits, with Yahoo coming in with 7% and Twitter with 6%.

Unfortunately for Google, its growth slowed quarter-to-quarter, after seeing significant gains in the two quarters prior. Meanwhile, Facebook also stagnated, which is actually a good thing for it, as th network had seen two quarters of significant decline sinc Q3 2012.

Still, Janrain says  that this is not "a two-horse race," even though Facebook and Google are combining for a staggering 80% of social logins.

They also say that despite Facebook coming in first in every single industry vertical: media sites, entertainment + gaming, music sites, retail sites consumer brands and B2B sites. And Google came in second in every single vertica, except for one: it turns out that many business professionals use LinkedIn on sites that cater to them.

Why? Because it allows them to project a "persona" that is separate from the identity they share on Facebook or Twitter. Different networks are used for different audiences, with Facebook being used to "interact with friends and family," while Twitter is used "to follow influencers and share opinions," and e-mail services like Gmail, Yahoo and Hotmail are used "to communicate directly with our important contacts."

LinkedIn users want to project a level of sophistication  that perhaps other networks do not provide.

"When using this identity to register on B2B sites, consumers can choose to grant the website access to their LinkedIn profile information, including a verified email address, first and last name, company name, job title and industry," Janrain said in the report. "The site can then use this information to conveniently pre-populate a sign-up form, which eliminates the need for consumers to fill out the form from scratch or enter lots of redundant professional details about themselves."

Google, it should be noted, did best in the consumer brand and retail verticals," which could perhaps be a reflection of the trust that people place in Google as a secure provider of their online identity," says Janrain.

(Image source: https://www.freshnetworks.com)