Growth of Google+ has really stepped up during recent weeks, and the new social networking service may more than 400 million users by the end of 2012, a self-appointed “unofficial statistician” of the service said.

Paul Allen, founder of Ancestry. com, said that Google+ has gained as many as 625,000 new users per day over the recent weeks, and move at that rate it should have more than 400 million users by the finish of next year.

Announcing his estimates, Allen wrote in a blog post, “I predict that 2012 is going to be a breakout year for Google+ and that it will end next year with more than 400 million users.”

Google’s social networking service is pretty good as it offers a cleaner look and feel by ensuring more white space, bigger photos and larger type.

Google can utilize its several popular products like its Google search engine and Gmail to promote its new social networking platform. Moreover, Google+ may benefit from the popularity of the company’s acclaimed mobile operating system, called Android, which makes it easy to sign up.

Meanwhile, new users are also providing a boost to the new service’s growth by inviting their friends and family members join the platform.

As of October 2011, Google+ had just 40 million users, just around 5 per cent of Facebook’s user-base. According to available figures, Facebook currently has more than 800 million users around the globe.