That all may change in the coming years however, as Google+ -- remember fiddling around with that a few years ago? -- climbs it’s way up the ranks of social media usage to second place.

According to a study by Janrain, a company that makes products to track website users, Google+ is the second most used social network to login to other websites. This makes a lot of sense given all the integrated products Google already has. For example, when I am using my Gmail, I am automatically logged in to all my other Google tools including:

• Google Calendar

• Google Drive

• YouTube, which is right behind Google+ on the social network ladder

• And sure enough, my G+ account

If I am already logged in, why not just continue with that on other websites? This alone demonstrates the huge potential for Google linking its services through Google+.

But, you say, no one uses Google+. Well, maybe you don’t, but over the past two years the network has grown to 500 million registered users, with 343 million being active users. Google+ shares, or those +1s I referred to, are growing 19% per month. While Facebook still reigns king, a lot of the smaller social networks are being overthrown, helping to drive this growth for Google.

Brands and bloggers are also a large part of the networks growth. Not only can they link Google Places profiles, they are taking advantage of Google Authorship, a tool which allows them to link content they publish on a specific domain to their Google+ profile.  These links can contribute to enhanced visibility and search rankings, which are both important pieces of any marketing effort.

So, while Google+ may not win the popularity contest just yet, surprisingly to most it holds a solid second place and shows potential for being a very powerful player in the social world.

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