That Didn't Take Long: Twitter Search Is Coming To Google

Mere hours after today’s announcement that Twitter would now be integrated with Microsoft’s Bing search engine, Google has annouced that it too will include Twittter updates in its own search results. Marissa Mayer, Google VP of Search Products and User Experience, writes in a company blog post:

Given this new type of information and its value to search, we are very excited to announce that we have reached an agreement with Twitter to include their updates in our search results. We believe that our search results and user experience will greatly benefit from the inclusion of this up-to-the-minute data, and we look forward to having a product that showcases how tweets can make search better in the coming months. That way, the next time you search for something that can be aided by a real-time observation, say, snow conditions at your favorite ski resort, you’ll find tweets from other users who are there and sharing the latest and greatest information.

It’s worth noting that while Bing’s Twitter search is live today, it sounds like Google will be working Twitter’s data into its search results over the next few months.

The next question is whether or not Google will get access to Facebook’s stream of real-time updates (Microsoft announced deals with both Twitter and Facebook at today’s Web 2.0 Summit). Neither of Microsoft’s deals with Twitter and Facebook are exclusive, which leaves the door open for Google to pair up with Facebook as well. But Google and Facebook have butted heads in the past. And Microsoft has a long history with Facebook: the company supplements Facebook’s search with Bing results, and it controls a small stake in the company after investing$240 million at a sky-high $15 billion valuation back in late 2007.