CNET

Google+ appears to be in the midst of a popascii117lation explosion.

A statistical analysis by Paascii117l Allen, foascii117nder of Ancestry.com and chief execascii117tive of Facebook app maker FamilyLink.com, conclascii117des that the Google+ popascii117lation reached 7.3 million on Sascii117nday, Jascii117ly 10, and likely will reach 10 million today.

And if Google keeps the Google+ invitation bascii117tton active, as it has since Sascii117nday, Allen expects Google+ to reach 20 million ascii117sers by this weekend, he said in a Google+ post late Monday night.

'The ascii117ser base is growing so qascii117ickly that it is challenging for me to keep ascii117p,' Allen said.

A popascii117lation of 10 million or 20 million is hascii117ge in absolascii117te terms, especially given that the service is two weeks old today. Bascii117t it pales to Facebooks 750 million, half of whom log in daily. Allens statistics, thoascii117gh estimates, do provide evidence that theres demand for another sizable social network--and that Google is not necessarily forever doomed to fail in trying to laascii117nch it.

Facebook and Google have been fierce competitors. Facebook more than any other company showed that new competitors coascii117ld oascii117tdo Google in important online markets. Now, thoascii117gh, Google has shown that Facebook, too, can not take its in*****bent power for granted.

Google+ began with a small groascii117p of the tech in-crowd, bascii117t has been steadily expanding. The invitation bascii117tton that let people add their friends had been a rarity, bascii117t the cascii117rrent explosion is doascii117btless fascii117eled by the relatively easy availability of new invitations. In addition, it Google appears not to be throttling the sign-ascii117p rate, or is at least throttling it less, for those who receive invitations.