1. BrightEdge SocialShare
Tracking Social Adoption and Trends
July 2012 Update
3 out of 4 brands are now
on Google+; Adoption
rising but at a lower pace
than before; 6X the
number of Google+ pages
showing in search results
BrightEdge Technologies - 1820 Gateway Drive - San Mateo, CA 94404 - Tel: 1-800-578-8023 - www.brightedge.com

2. Google+ Adoption Growing Steadily
The past two months saw more top 100 brands joining the Google+ bandwagon. Notable
brands who launched Google+ pages include Visa, Wells Fargo and fashion design giant
Hermes. Three out of four brands now have Google+ pages which indicates that marketers
see Google+ as an important forum for engaging users.
User Engagement Rising But At A Slower Pace
During the past two months, the number of people following the top 100 brands rose 54%,
from 7.9M to 12.2M. This is much lower than the dizzying 1400% growth between December,
2011 and February, 2012, and the 150% growth between February, 2012 and May, 2012. The
top 10 brands have over 9.2M followers accounting for 75% of the total followers on Google+.
Circles facts:
• Brazilian banking giant Bradesco’s followers leapt
66X from 1,800 to 119K 12.2M
• Verizon, who had only 2.5K followers in May, now 7.9M
has 56K, a 22X increase
• Honda saw a 13X increase in followers May-12
Jul -12
A Change Of Guard At The Google+ Top 10
The top 10 brands collectively have thrice as many Rank Brand Followers
followers as brands 11-100, as opposed to ten times in 1 H&M 1262K
February, indicating the rising importance of Google+ for
2 Toyota 1111K
marketers across the board.
3 Google 968K
• Two brands have more than a million followers and five 4 Red Bull 964K
are close to breaking the one million mark 5 BMW 941K
• H&M stays ahead of the pack with 1.2M followers 6 Nissan 939K
• Toyota is second with 1.1M followers, up from 18K and 7 Mercedes-Benz(US) 917K
602K in February and May respectively 8 Samsung 771K
• Google, which was #9 in February with 194K followers 9 Porsche 749K
shoots up to #3 with 968K followers 10 Starbucks 572K
• Red Bull enters the Top 10 at #4 with 964K followers, up
Total 9.2M
from 8.7K and 698K in February and May respectively
• The Top 10 now has a distinct auto flavor with new entrants Toyota, BMW, Nissan, Mercedes-
Benz and Porsche accounting for 50% of the followers
• Pepsi, Coca-cola, Sony, Intel, eBay and Amazon take the next spots but are not too far behind
• Nike, while not in the Top 10, made impressive gains with 336K followers - it had no Google+
presence in February
BrightEdge Technologies - 1820 Gateway Drive - San Mateo, CA 94404 - Tel: 1-800-578-8023 - www.brightedge.com

3. Promotion Of Google+ On Brand Sites Growing Slowly
In February, very few brands promoted their Google+ presence through links to their Google+
pages on their website. By May, leaders like Nissan and Red Bull had added links. As of July,
only 20% of the brands with Google+ pages link to these pages on their website. Notable
brands which added links between May and July are Hermes, Starbucks, Samsung & Honda.
6X The Number Of Google+ Pages Showing Up In Search Results
When searching for the company using brand terms, 30% of brands with Google+ pages have
these pages show up in search results. This is a whopping six times higher than the 5% in
February. This could be due to the rising importance of social content in search results along
with the growing adoption of Google+ by brands and users. Brands with Google+ pages in
SERPs include:
• Accenture • FedEx • H&M • Sony
• AT&T • GE • Intel • Starbucks
• eBay • Google • Porsche • Toyota
Facebook And Twitter Lead Google+ In Adoption
Given that Facebook and Twitter launched well before Google+, they have a higher adoption
among the top 100 brands. 90% of the top 100 brands have a Facebook page and 80% of
brands have a Twitter presence. Facebook alone has more than 481M fans across the top 100
brands, the top 5 of which are:
Facebook
Rank Brand Fans
1 Facebook 70M
2 Coca-cola 45M
3 Disney 37M
4 Starbucks 31M
5 Red Bull 29M
Total 213M
Summary
Brands are taking Google+ more seriously than ever with 3 out of 4 brands having a Google+
page - evidence of solid expansion. Brands are adding followers at a rapid pace. However, the
growth has certainly slowed since the initial momentum. While the number of brands on
Google+ is getting closer to that on Facebook and Twitter, there is still far lower engagement
with users compared to Facebook and Twitter.
BrightEdge Technologies - 1820 Gateway Drive - San Mateo, CA 94404 - Tel: 1-800-578-8023 - www.brightedge.com