Google's social network, Google+, is looking to close the gap on rival Facebook following a Christmas advertising campaign on American TV that included a raft of celebrity appearances... and even the muppets.
The network, which launched to the public in September, currently has around 62 million users, dwarfed by Facebook's global reach of around 800 million.
However, Google have been busy in recent months integrating the network into their search facility and the Android mobile operating system.
According to web entrepreneur Paul Allen (and reported in The Telegraph), more than 600 thousand users are signing up to Google+ daily, with the total number of users expected to reach 200 million by the summer.
"I expect the growth to continue to accelerate however," said Allen.
"Google can continue to integrate Google+ into its other products and word of mouth will continue to build. Most importantly, 700,000 Android devices are activated daily and this will become a very significant source of new users for Google+. That number will also grow next year."
"As more users sign up, the value of the network will increase for everyone. The network effect will become powerful. It won't be long before new users start encountering family and friends as well as the thriving tech and media sharing community that embraced Google+ early on."
Allen concludes that 2012 will be the "breakout year" for Google+, predicting it will end next December with around 400 million users.