Google also inks search deal with Twitter

Google will now include Twitter posts in its search results in a bid to provide up-to-the-minute user data and compete with Microsoft’s Bing search engine, which is also set to index tweets. The news was revealed on Google’s blog just hours after Microsoft announced at the Web 2.0 conference in San Francisco that Bing is launching a Twitter search function. 

Analysts say Twitter has been in negotiations with both firms over the proposed deal for some time. It is unclear what the terms are, but many say it is likely that both Google and Microsoft are paying Twitter for the privilege of searching and indexing its tweets. If this analysis is correct, these sorts of revenue streams could be precisely what Twitter needs to silence critics who complain the firm lacks a business model to justify its recent USD1bn valuation. 

It is not yet clear why Microsoft was able to cement the deal first and so steal a march on Google. However, it is clear that the Windows-maker had the deal terms agreed well before Microsoft’s top search developer, Qi Lu, took the stage at the Web 2.0 summit. It has not yet emerged whether Google was also ready to announce the news, or whether frantic phone calls to Twitter HQ were required to rush through its own search deal. However, there was a gap of three hours between a Twitter blog post announcing the Microsoft deal and a subsequent one that said Google was also indexing tweets. 

Speculation has mounted over the past year that Google was planning to buy Twitter. However, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone has repeatedly denied that his firm is interested in takeover offers. News that Google has signed a search deal with the microblogging firm backs up Stone’s line that Twitter is pursuing partnerships, not mergers and acquisitions. 

As part of its announcement, Microsoft says Bing will soon be able to scan Facebook status updates. Google has yet to mention whether its search engine will have a similar feature.