Google $20 Billion Richer With The Launch Of Google+?

Investors love Google. In fact, they love it so much, they’ve added $20 billion to Google’s market capitalization since the launch of the Google+ social network.

That number has since been trimmed by Morgan Stanley to around $15.8 billion, but hey, when you can add 15 billion to a companies value in a week, doest it really matter? The day before the launch of Google+, June 27, a share in Google would’ve set you back $482.80; just a week later on July 7, that cost rose to a head-numbing $546.60 per share.

Even with the Morgan Stanley adjustments (based on fears Google+ will fail), the jump in share price is a firm indicator that investors see Google’s new outing as a credible threat to Facebook’s dominance. Of course, there are other factors that drive market sentiment, but Google hasn’t had such a jump in quite a while. Even the launch of Google buzz didn’t produce such potent results.

One of Google’s advantage is that Google+ is a brand new service. Facebook on the other hand, is well established. Now, you may ask, how is it that a brand new service can trump a well established social network? Here’s how it works: Google has the “novelty” factor, which for Facebook wore off ages ago. You can see proof of this in the fact that Facebook made an announcement in an effort to steal some of Google’s buzz. Introducing video calling in an existing social network is nothing like announcing a brand new social network. And this is why investors and users alike are salivating at the mouth over Google+. If it’s new, people want in—pure and simple.

Watch the video below to see how Google+ might impact on Facebook.