Google Operating System – an unofficial source of news and tips about Google – is reporting that Google will ”launch a service that indexes and ranks content from microblogging services like Twitter.” According to the piece, certain search queries will trigger Google’s ”MicroBlogsearch universal search group” – which is described as functioning in a manner similar to Google’s blog search. In other words, aggregating and making sense out of the millions of active Tweets at any given time, and somehow ranking the Tweets according to a Google algorithm applied to the data.
The general takeaway here is that Google will either mesh Twitter posts into the main search results, or create a separate search feature (like blog search) containing Tweets on the subject queried.
So this begs the question – is Google coming into the game too late? I would argue that they are.
Here are the main reasons that Google is at a disadvantage to Twitter in correlating and displaying search results based on Tweets.
1. Twitter owns this data – NOT Google. For starters, consider that Google needs permission to post anything on its search engine. Of course one could argue that Twitter benefits from being indexed by Google and being integrated somehow into the Google search results. That would seem to indicate that Twitter will cooperate and let Google spider and display results based on Tweets. But this is not a given. At any time Twitter could decide to block Google from spidering its property. Then what will Google use for real-time search?
2. Twitter owns the customer relationship – NOT Google. Twitter has a direct email address and (in most cases) URL of every Twitter account. They can communicate directly with these customers. They can explain their point of view, or make the case for a certain way of doing business. Twitter can also directly survey its audience and solicit feedback on the value of services – such as being included in Google search. Google can’t do that – they don’t even really know who the Twitterers are.
3. Twitter has real-time built into its DNA – Google DOESN’T. The entire fabric of the Twitter brand is built on real-time data transmission and messaging. Every system, every process, every employee position is created with the mandate of delivering real-time data in the form of Tweets to the world. Sure this has created a few noticeable growing pains in the form of various system failures – but it has also produced solutions to these problems. This gives Twitter a real edge in spitting out real-time data at staggering speeds.
4. Twitter messages are different than websites. Google has spent its energies spidering and displaying the results of data created and housed in the form of websites. Websites are for the most part a bit thoughtful – this is a byproduct of the fact that it takes a bit of effort to create a website. Consider the difference between the HostingCon website and its Twitter feed. Or the difference between UK hosting company 34SP.com’s website and the 34SP.com Twitter feed. These are totally different things. Tweets are easy to create, and sometimes have – literally – no thought behind them. They are potentially mindless ramblings. That’s part of what’s so fun about Twitter. It’s unfiltered. So now, here comes Google trying to filter the er…unfilterable. So how do you rank search results for something like ”#3wordsaftersex”? Good luck with that Google.
Bottom line for Google: figure out how to buy Twitter right now. Don’t fiddle around and wait for someone else (Microsoft?) to snatch it up. Open up your massive wallet and buy it. Then let it run the way it is – and please don’t screw it up.
