To hear Google Inc. (GOOG) Chief Executive Larry Page tell it, Google+ has become a robustcompetitor in the social networking space, with 90 million users registering since its June launch.
谷歌公司(Google Inc.)首席执行长佩奇(Larry Page)的说法，Google+已经成为社交网络中一个强大的竞争者，自去年6月份发布以来，该网站已经拥有9,000万注册用户。
But those numbers mask what's really going on at Google+.
但是这些数字掩盖了Google+的真实情况。
It turns out Google+ is a virtual ghost town compared with the site of rival Facebook Inc., which is preparing for a historicinitial public offering. New data from comScore Inc. shows that Google+ users are signing up--but then not doing much there.
事实上，同其竞争对手Facebook相比，Google+是虚拟世界中的"鬼城"。Facebook正在为一次具有历史意义的首次公开募股（IPO）做准备。来自comScore Inc.(SCOR)的最新数据显示，用户只是在Google+上注册──但是注册之后不会在网站有多少活动。
Visitors using personal computers spent an average of about three minutes a month on Google+ between last September and January, versus six to seven hours on Facebook each month over the same period, according to comScore, which didn't have data on mobile usage.
根据comScore的数据，去年9月份到今年1月份之间，使用个人电脑访问Google+的用户平均每月在该网站上的活跃时间为三分钟。相比之下，Facebook用户在同一时期的活跃时间为每月六到七个小时。comScore没有使用移动设备的用户数据。
Behind the lack of engagement are Google's difficulties in differentiating Google+ from Facebook. When Google+ launched last year amid much hoopla, the Internet search giant positioned it as a Facebook competitor where people can share comments, articles, photos and videos with specific groups of friends and contacts.
用户活跃度不足，这一现象背后是谷歌在让Google+与Facebook区别开来方面遇到的种种困难。去年高调发布了Google+之后，这家互联网搜索引擎巨头将其定位为Facebook的竞争者，人们可以在上面与特定的朋友和联系人圈子分享评论、文章、照片和视频。
While Google+ has some original features--including 'Hangouts,' which lets people start a video conference with up to 10 people using webcams--analysts and some consumers say the distinction isn't enough to lure Facebook members away and persuade them to build a network of contacts from scratch on Google+.
尽管Google+有一些原创的功能──包括"Hangouts"（一款可以让至多10名用户利用网络摄像头进行视频会议的应用程序）──分析人士和一些消费者说，这个特色还不足以把Facebook的用户吸引过来，或是说服他们在Google+上从零开始建立联系人网络。
'Nobody wants another social network right now,' said Brian Solis, an analyst at social-media advisory firm Altimeter Group. For those who already use Facebook, 'Google hasn't communicated what the value of Google+ is,' he said.
社交媒体咨询公司Altimeter Group的分析师索利斯(Brian Solis)说，现在没人需要其他的社交网络。他说，对于已经使用Facebook的人来说，谷歌并没有告诉用户Google+的真正价值是什么。
Google executives downplay the direct comparison to Facebook, which has 845 million monthly active users. They have repeatedly said they are making a long-term bet on the initiative, and the company has yet to build up some of the weapons that made Facebook successful, including encouraging app development.
谷歌的高管没有对Google+和Faecbook进行过多的直接比较。Facebook每月活跃用户数量为8.45亿。他们反复说，谷歌对这个计划采取了立足长远的态度，公司还需要加强一些帮助Facebook取得成功的武器，包括鼓励开发Google+的应用程序。
Still, some key Google+ partners are underwhelmed by the lack of user activity.
但是一些Google+的主要合伙人仍然因为用户活跃度低感到失望。
Google hasn't yet approached advertisers to advertise on Google+, but some marketers who are testing the site say their brand messages haven't resonated with consumers as much as they had expected.
谷歌还没有开始接触可能在Google+上做广告的商家，但是一些测试该网站的商家说，在Google+上，他们的品牌信息没有像他们预期的那样引起消费者的共鸣。
Google has much at stake as it spends heavily on newspaper ads and commercials to promote Google+, including a TV spot involving The Muppets that ran during the Academy Awards on Sunday. The company's main financial goal of Google+ is to obtain personal data about users to better target ads to them across all of Google.
谷歌对Google+下了很大成本，为了给Google+做宣传，投入了大量资金做报纸和电视广告，其中包括在周日奥斯卡颁奖典礼举行期间投放的电视广告。公司为Google+制定的主要财务目标是获得用户的个人数据，以便谷歌能在其各种服务中更有针对性地投放广告。
To some observers, the challenges Google is facing in creating a rival destination to Facebook and Twitter Inc. evokes the problems that software giant Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) has had in creating a rival search destination to Google search with Bing.
对于一些观察人士来说，谷歌在努力创造一个能与Facebook和推特（Twitter）争夺用户的网站，这其中的挑战让人们回想起了软件巨头微软(Microsoft Corp.)在推出必应(Bing)时遇到的问题。后者的目的也是为了创造一个对谷歌构成竞争的搜索引擎。
Facebook and Twitter helped change the way people discover new things on the Web, rivaling Google as the chief gateway to the Internet. Much of the activity on Facebook is private and can't be accessed by Google's search engine, making search less useful as people spend more time on Facebook.
Facebook和推特改变了人们在网络上发现新事物的方式，对谷歌作为进入互联网的主要通道的地位发起了挑战。在Facebook上的活动大多数是私人的，通过谷歌的搜索引擎无法获取，随着人们在Facebook上的时间越来越多，搜索引擎的用处就没那么大了。
While some Silicon Valley executives privately give credit to Google for not just ceding territory to Facebook, Google has an uphill battle in slowing down Facebook's momentum.
尽管一些硅谷的高管们私下里对谷歌没有向Facebook低头的做法赞许有加，但谷歌如果想削弱Facebook的势头，势必要经历一场艰难的战斗。
A Facebook spokesman declined to comment.
Facebook的发言人未予评论。
Amir Efrati
- executive [ig´zekjutiv]
a.行政的 n.行政官 (初中英语单词) - engagement [in´geidʒmənt] n.婚约；雇用；受聘 (初中英语单词)
- conference [´kɔnfərəns] n.讨论(会)；会谈 (初中英语单词)
- distinction [di´stiŋkʃən] n.差别；特征；卓越 (初中英语单词)
- persuade [pə´sweid] v.(被)说服；使相信 (初中英语单词)
- scratch [skrætʃ] v.&n.抓，搔；抓伤 (初中英语单词)
- comparison [kəm´pærisən] n.比较；对照；比喻 (初中英语单词)
- promote [prə´məut] vt.促进；发扬；助长 (初中英语单词)
- academy [ə´kædəmi] n.专科学校；学会；协会 (初中英语单词)
- financial [fi´nænʃəl] a.金融的，财政的 (初中英语单词)
- obtain [əb´tein] v.获得；买到；得到承认 (初中英语单词)
- valley [´væli] n.谷；河谷；流域 (初中英语单词)
- competitor [kəm´petitə] n.竞争者；比赛者 (高中英语单词)
- historic [his´tɔrik] a.有历史意义的 (高中英语单词)
- initial [i´niʃəl] a.最初的 n.首字母 (高中英语单词)
- offering [´ɔfəriŋ] n.提供；礼物；捐献 (高中英语单词)
- specific [spi´sifik] a.具体的；特有的 (高中英语单词)
- monthly [´mʌnθli] a.每月(的) n.月刊 (高中英语单词)
- initiative [i´niʃiətiv] n.主动权；首创精神 (高中英语单词)
- advertise [´ædvətaiz] v.登(做)广告；通知 (高中英语单词)
- destination [,desti´neiʃən] n.目标地 (高中英语单词)
- gateway [´geit-wei] n.入口；通道；途径 (高中英语单词)
- network [´netwə:k] n.网状物 vt.联播 (英语四级单词)
- repeatedly [ri´pi:tidli] ad.反复地；再三地 (英语四级单词)
- robust [rəu´bʌst] a.强建的；茁壮的 (英语六级单词)
- twitter [´twitə] vi.(鸟)吱吱叫 n.鸟鸣 (英语六级单词)
- privately [´praivitli] ad.秘密，一个人 (英语六级单词)
- spokesman [´spəuksmən] n.发言人 (英语六级单词)
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