How dead is Google+? Hotel and resort profile data tell the story.

Google+ has become the punch line of many marketing jokes. References to life support and ghost towns are not uncommon as the struggling network somehow manages to make the occasional, positive headline. But what do the numbers say? Have resorts and their followers deserted Google’s latest social foray? Here’s what we found.

The Goods
To find our answer we analyzed the Google+ profiles of over 200 North American hotels and resorts. Because we wanted to not just see how Google+ is doing now, but how those numbers compared to the past, we found the YOY change (2014 vs 2015) for each of the four metrics we analyzed. For example, if a bar shows a -50% below, that indicates 2015 numbers dropped 50% compared to 2014.

For our sample, Google+ follower growth rate dropped to almost zero, engagement rates fell 53%, total posts shared each month by active resorts dropped 30%, and the number of resort and hotels active during any one month dropped 18%.

What This Means
The goal within these metrics was to see two things. First, what are Google+ users doing on the site? And, second, what are resorts and hotels doing? In both cases the prognosis is grim even though we’re seeing a slight downward trend on some other sites, especially when it comes to posting frequency.

But what’s interesting is that user engagement with resorts seems to be dropping faster than activity by the resorts themselves. Without users, marketers don’t have a reason to stick around. So while marketing activity may not be dead, user activity appears to be very close. And if the users go, it all goes.

Next Week, Another Insight
We post a new marketing insight every Tuesday using only hotel and resort data. It’s a weekly tradition we’ve kept since 2012. Don’t want to miss the next round? Stick your email below.