Google+ now pulling in 20 million unique visitors

On the heels of iPhone app launch, a milestone (and rumors of a game network)

A week ago, Google CEO Larry Page revealed that Google+ had already amassed 10 million members. As of July 19, less than a week after Page’s announcement and less than a month since the new social network’s birth, traffic is still thriving, according to comScore.

The site now sees about 20 million visitors worldwide, an 82 percent increase from the week before and 561 percent leap from two weeks earlier. In the U.S. specifically, traffic is above five million visitors, an 81 percent increase from the week before and 723 percent leap from two weeks earlier.

Much of this astonishing growth is thanks in large part to the fact that invitations to Google+ are much easier to come by now. Plus, the public likely has been curious to try the new network out, after hearing so much hype from the tech press and early adopters.

The key for Google, of course, is sustaining the excitement around its new service, which is widely seen as a major competitor to at least two of the most popular social networking sites, Facebook and Twitter. Those two, especially Facebook, have global, ironclad social graphs that will be hard to tear apart; it will be hard to do, period, but it would be impossible to do quickly.

Instead, Google must consistently, throughout the next year and beyond, maintain the energy of sharing we’re seeing on the site now. When Google+ launched on the iPhone, I thought the app would do a lot to make the (mobile) social networking experience feel fresh and exciting... but it didn’t really. Most likely, Google was more focused on just getting in the App Store.

By the way, for all you early adopters that praised Google+ for saving you from the annoyance of Zynga posts and other application notifications in your stream, brace yourselves. Here’s something that will help make Google+ go mainstream.

Google is close to launching its very own social game network for Google+ users, according to multiple sources (via AllThingsD).

Besides all the small developers, Zynga would love to expand to a new social networking property. As the company prepares for its IPO, it has publicly acknowledged that a risk to its business model is its complete reliance on Facebook’s network.

Spreading its wings, Zynga would help itself and Google.