Search giant Google Inc. had this entrance strategy for its new social network -- launch the service without fireworks, release a beta version of the service to select individuals, and have others join via a by-invitation scheme. So far, the technique, the same done for Google's gmail, appears to be working as Google+ has already gained 20 million unique visitors just three weeks into its release, according to estimates by Web-traffic watcher comScore Inc.

The positive market response support the accolades given by reviewers following the launch and predictions that Google+ could share the same relevance today as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. LinkedIn has market value of $9.7 billion. Facebook is worth $82.4 billion and Twitter is worth $8.2 billion, both according to estimates by Sharespost, which monitors trading of private company stock.

Google+ mimics Facebook while adding new features including Circles and Hangouts. Aside from having Circles, which enables users to organize contacts into groups for sharing, across various Google products and services, Google+ offers Hangouts, a video chatting service. Facebook promptly announced that it will offer a Skype-run video service just a week after the release of Google+

"It's fair to say the initial market response has been very positive overall, with accolades going to its design, usability and approach to group networking with Circles," comScore's Andrew Lipsman said on Friday.

The 20 million estimated by comScore is based on unique visitors, which is different than "users" in that people who never sign up may visit Google+ pages. Google CEO Larry Page told analysts last week that 10 million have joined Facebook just two weeks after its release.

Lipsman said that the 20 million visits worldwide as of July 19 is extraordinary number in just its first three weeks. That number represents an increase of 82% from the previous week and 561% vs. two weeks prior. The U.S. audience recently surpassed 5 million visitors, up 81% from the previous week and 723% from two weeks earlier.

Google, Lipsman notes, does have a built-in visitor base of more than 1 billion to work with, so there is clearly potential to convert a high number of users to its new social tool -- even if it is still invite-only. Google is ranked #1 in the world according to the three-month Alexa traffic rankings, with over 50% of Internet users visiting Google.com, Gmail or other Google sites everyday.

"What is also interesting about the rapid growth of Google+ is its proliferation on a global basis," Lipsman also points out. The U.S. only accounts for 27% of the total worldwide audience of Google+.

Google+, according to comScore, has clearly captured the attention of the technorati and as usage incubates among this crowd it will likely continue to proliferate to a more general audience.

While Google+ has certainly gained momentum, it's still unclear if Google's social network will be able to beat, or even fly as high as, Facebook.

Facebook already has more than 750 million users worldwide and its user-base is expected to continue to grow despite Google+'s entry.And Google+ could be so late in the game when Facebook has already reached most countries (except China where it is banned) and the number one social network in 119 out of 134 countries (based on Vincenzo Cosenza's "World Map of Social Networks" last month), and could reach 1 billion users soon.

Inside Facebook Gold analytics service -- which gets its information from Facebook's advertising tool -- said last month (before Google+ was launched) that having reached around half the total populations in Europe and North America, Facebook had slower growth in these regions. However, it noted that Palo Alto, California-based Facebook continues to rise rapidly in developing countries.

"As we've seen in the social networking market before, success often hinges on a strong network effect, which says that the more people in the network the more useful it becomes to others and the more incentive there is to participate. Early interest in Google+ is certainly important, but it will also need to attract regular participation among users to cultivate such an effect. In the past week, we have seen the number of average usage days via home and work computers increase by more than 30%, an early indication that the network effect just might be beginning taking hold," comScore's Lipsman says.

"Time will ultimately tell if Google+ can leverage its early momentum to reach critical mass among users and capture a firm foothold in the well-established social networking market."

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