Analysts predict that Google+ will have hit 100 million users sometime this month, and reach 400 million by years end. Thats half of Facebook’s current user base.

After failing to enter the market with services like Google Buzz and Google Wave, Google set out to make connecting on the web more like connecting in the real world. With new and differentiated social tools such as hangouts, circles, and sparks, Google+ quickly gained recognition from the online technology community as the first social network that could challenge Facebook’s dominant market position. And by July 24, 2011, Google had already hit 25 million users making it the fastest growing social network to date.

However, despite the rapid growth, Google+ is now criticized for its inability to sustain the expansion and convert adopters into active users. Statistics from a Bime Analytics report published on August 19 indicated that only 17% of users actually use the service daily. With all the different opinions out there, the debate still rages whether Google+ is challenging Facebook’s position within the market. But I read an articlein November,by Pete Cashmore (founder of Mashable) and I think he sums it up best. We’re asking the wrong question. He explains:

“Google didn’t promote Google+ as a “Facebook killer,” however. Far from it. The real value of Google+ is a very small feature indeed: The +1 button. This little widget — Google’s answer to the Facebook Like button — is an acknowledgment that links are no longer the only way to rank websites. Instead, people are increasingly discovering content through their friends on social networks. For Google, a company that ranks Web content based on the links between pages, that’s a very scary change that undermines the organization’s core search-engine service.”

So as Cashmore states “Can Google+ beat Facebook? I think the better question might be “Is Google better off with Google+?”

And I agree, the answer is definitely yes.