Google apes Microsoft's Twitter pact in real-time

Web2.0rhea arms race

By Cade Metz in San Francisco • Get more from this author

Posted in Music and Media, 21st October 2009 22:05 GMT

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Google has announced a pact to feed Twitter's Web2.0rhea straight into its search engine, hours after Microsoft unveiled a similar deal.

"We are very excited to announce that we have reached an agreement with Twitter to include their updates in our search results," reads a blog post from Googirl Marisa Mayer.

"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."

Presumably, Google's deal was already in place, but the unveiling was rushed out as part of its ongoing tete-a-tete with Redmond. What does this mean for netizens? "The next time you search for something that can be aided by a real-time observation, say, snow conditions at your favorite ski resort," Mayer says, "you'll find tweets from other users who are there and sharing the latest and greatest information."

Yes, she said greatest. ®

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