Good news for tweeters: Google may be testing a microblog search tool

By Matthew Shaer | 06.15.09

Could Google be testing a microblog search application?

That’s the rumor swirling around the blogosphere today, days after the Google Operating System blog unearthed evidence in the FAQ section of a company blog. According to GOS, “Google [is] preparing to launch a service that indexes and ranks content from microblogging services like Twitter.”

If true, the move could revolutionize the way we tweet. As Randall Stross and others have noted, Twitter’s search function is inherently limited – it allows users to sift through old posts, but every item is ordered chronologically, and finding older information can be a hassle.

“[If] one wants to search Twitter for tweets about a topic… Twitter’s data fill an ocean in which it’s hard to find specific fish,” Stross wrote in Sunday’s New York Times.

Reporters have long wondered if Google was preparing a real-time search function. Google crawls and indexes web pages regularly – including posts on Twitter. But the algorithm does not analyze and process information in real time.

According to CNET’s Tom Kraznit, Google did not confirm or deny the existence of a microblog search initiative.

“At Google we strive to connect people to all the world’s information, and this includes information that’s frequently updated such as news sites, blogs and real-time sources,” the company wrote in a statement. “While we don’t have anything to announce today, real-time information is important, and we’re looking at different ways to use this information to make Google more useful to our users.”

<< Google to artists: Sorry, but you’ll have to work for free | Main

Comments

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

Leave a Comment

Name (required)

Website

  By clicking "Submit Comment", you agree to our Terms of Service.

We do not publish all comments, and we do not publish comments immediately. The comments feature is a forum to discuss the ideas in our stories. Constructive debate - even pointed disagreement - is welcome, but personal attacks on other commenters are not, and will not be published.

Tip: Do not write a novel. Keep it short. We will not publish lengthy comments. Come up with your own statements. This is not a place to cut and paste an email you received. If we recognize it as such, we won't post it.

Please do not post any comments that are commercial in nature or that violate copyrights.

Finally, we will not publish any comments that we regard as obscene, defamatory, or intended to incite violence.