A while ago, I wrote a post about Google Wave, and said that I would trial it for a while and then report back on how it was working for me. The time has now come to write that update, and to cut a long story short, Google Wave has entirely underwhelmed me. Whilst I’ve actively tried to use it, I go for days without even remembering to check my Wave inbox. Although on paper I understand that Google Wave offers greater communication prospects than email or existing social networks, I find it far easier to contact friends and colleagues through email, Facebook and Twitter. Furthermore, a lot of my communication is done via mobile (Blackberry), and as far as I know, there is no Google Wave Blackberry app, or simple way to sync the two (correct me if I am wrong). And, whilst Google Wave is still fledgling, I think that users should receive email notifications when their wave inbox is updated (my colleagues never remember to check their Wave inboxes either).

It seems that I’m not the only one losing interest in Google Wave. As the graph below shows,  Google did a great job of building up hype around Google Wave towards the end of last year, however it seems that interest in the product is now plummeting.

The graph above shows Google search volume for the term “Google Wave” over the past 12 months.

The Hitwise graph below further confirms that usage of the service is falling; traffic to the Google Wave has fallen considerably over the past two months.

The above statistics don’t surprise me in the slightest; Google Wave is currently not sticky enough to hold attention, and the functionality isn’t great at the moment. No doubt Google have some tricks up their sleeves, and the product is still in beta, so I am by no means writing this service off, but for now, I’m going to stop waving.

What are your thoughts?