Google have been developing their Social Search profile for a few months now. Last week we finally saw the emergence of their latest endeavours, a new element within their blended results featuring related messages from your online social circle.
Social Search is now going to appear as an option within Google’s search results. Essentially it works by pooling the public information shared by your online friends and will show those that include the keywords used – in order of relevance of course.
So how does Google know who I’m friends with?
Well, the Social Search element will only appear for those who have a Google profile and are signed in. It collates the data from the links that you voluntarily supply. For example, your Google profile might include Facebook, Twitter and Gmail, with links to each of your related accounts. Google can then reach in and grab your public information – i.e. your friends or contacts list – and include them within your social circle – ready for Social Search integration.
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When I posed the question, ‘How will Twitter monetise…?’, at the tail end of last week, I didn’t expect the answer to be quite so immediate. Today it has been announced that Twitter are holding talks with both Google and Microsoft to seal a deal that will see feeds being shown alongside standard search results.
This is a move that has been some time in the making. Bing stole a march on Google at the beginning of July by integrating the tweets of a select band of Twitterati royalty (as covered in our blog post, ‘Bing Unleash Real-Time Search’). Whilst Twitter has struggled to find a way to make money from its hugely popular service, the search engines have been seeking ways to tap into its real-time capabilities. A match made in heaven, surely.
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Facebook appears to be an unstoppable juggernaut of a website. It has already dwarfed all of its social media peers, but that, it seems, just isn’t enough. With the acquisition of FriendFeed, Facebook may have just played their greatest masterstroke.
There’s probably a fair percentage of people reading this who don’t have the first idea what FriendFeed is; don’t worry, you’re far from alone. Essentially, FriendFeed is a real-time aggregator; pulling in news and updates from various sources and channelling through a single hub. The instantaneous feed has bought many comparisons to Twitter, but before it could really get huge, it has been snaffled up by Facebook.
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The new Twitter home page has been unveiled. Whilst it may not be the most revolutionary design, it does include one key addition, Twitter search.
Now, without even having to sign up with Twitter, you can immediately take advantage of their search facility and see what the world is talking about. With homepage integration, far more people will be able to access Twitter and use it to track down breaking stories and local news in an instant, regardless of whether they are a member or not.
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Econsultancy raised an interesting argument regarding the integration of real time features into conventional search engine formats. With Twitter and Facebook providing updates by the millisecond and the huge popularity that both have subsequently achieved, questions have been asked over whether the likes of Bing, Google and Yahoo should follow suit.
Well, as we’ve reported Bing have already integrated real-time search while Google are still finding real-time search ‘interesting’ – no news on Yahoo or the others. Bing’s first foray into the world of real-time (documented in Bing Unleash Real-Time Search) includes short snippets of some of the most popular Twitterati’s contributions.
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In a comprehensive interview with The Guardian, Marrisa Mayer, Vice President of search products and user experience at Google, discussed many of the search giant’s recent updates – including the Chrome OS launch – as well as the companies move towards real-time search.
Whilst Mayer wouldn’t be drawn into confirming rumours surrounding possible Twitter integration, she did say “we think that real-time search is very interesting”; which in Google speak is generally a good indication that something is on the horizon.
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Google have long since mooted the idea of adding a real-time element to their search – as highlighted by our May 22 post Is Real-Time Search Really the Future for Google? However, it now appears Bing have beaten them to the punch.
The Bing Community blog yesterday announced the first tentative steps of real-time interaction. Initially this will include the posts of the most followed and influential Twitter account users; however, it appears that plans are already afoot for further developments.
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