Google+ is creating buzz in Asia and across the world. From time to time, I see friends requesting a Google+ invite in my Facebook or Twitter stream. A report from Mashable explained that both Picasa and Blogger are going to be rebranded and eventually merged with Google+. So what about the fate of Orkut, a Google-owned social networking product, widely used in Brazil and India?
It turns out that the company believes that Orkut and Google+ are two different products, but it did hint that integration could be possible in the future. Here’s what Google told IDG News:
“Orkut and Google+ are different products, and will both exist. Over time, we’ll determine what makes the most sense in terms of integrating these products.”
Orkut has had success in India. But online traffic analyzer, Alexa.com, has shown that the service is experiencing a drop in traffic over the past three months. Indeed Orkut has faced some major heat from social networking giants like Facebook and Twitter in the last couple of years.
In January, a report from Experian Hitwise noted that Facebook has blown past Orkut.com, claiming third spot in India while Orkut has slipped to the tenth position. According to Alexa’s current list of most visited sites in India, it now stands at the 19th position in the country.
Things have to change for Orkut if it wishes to remain competitive in the social networking market. My gut feeling tells me that Google already has plans to merge Orkut with Google+. But that would be too soon as Orkut, after all, is still a high traffic site with a considerable amount of users.
It is true that Google+ has much attracted much attention and does look pretty promising. Nonetheless, it hasn’t yet proven that it can rise up to the challenge from Facebook.
It makes sense for Picasa and Blogger to move to Google+ since both are needed technologies for Google’s latest social push. However, it is a whole different story if Google were to move networks of friends from Orkut to Google+.
Feel free to leave your thoughts, especially any of our readers from India who are currently on Orkut.
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