Google+ Traffic Falls

After a slow start, the growth of Google + 's can be slowed down a bit. A report by Experian Hitwise found both traffic and average user time on social networking fell last week in the U.S. Total visits to Google + was reduced by 3% to 1.79 million in the U.S. for the week ended July 23 compared with the last seven days, according to research firm. The site received 1.86 million visits last week. Average time on site was 10%, 5 minutes, 50 seconds and 5 minutes, 15 seconds.

Matt Tatham, a representative of Experian Hitwise, was careful not to overstate the results. "This is a great fall," he says. The company extrapolates its figures from data provider of the Internet and an opt-in panel of around 2.5 million users.

The report comes after the Google traffic + 's enjoyed a steady climb since its debut June 28. Last week, comScore reported that the network reaches 20 million unique visitors. Some were so enamored with Google + that closed their Facebook accounts and moved all its activities to the new network.