Bing and Google : real time searching of Twitter, Facebook

The Microsoft Bing search engine is to start real time referencing comments published on the Facebook and Twitter web sites. Google has already fought back.

During the summer we picked up on the fact that an association between the Microsoft search engine and the well known microblogger Twitter had been created while we tested the beta version of BingTweets. Microsoft has now taken their Twitter adventure even further by announcing a partnership with the group. This agreement will be quickly put into operation, while the financial details of the agreement have not been made public.

The association can already been seen, with a section on the Bing website being dedicated to this service : http://www.bing.com/twitter. From here you will be able to view the most recent tweets that have been made in relation to your search criteria. Numerous word clouds appear on the site to announce the commercial release of Windows 7 on the 22nd of October 2009.

This Twitter oriented search function can already be tested in its beta version. Microsoft insists on the notion of real time, with it being possible to pause the search results if you wish, as by default these will continually update in your browser.

The agreement with Twitter is non exclusive though, and Google was quick to announce to their users that they would also have the same installation available to their users:

" We are pleased to announce that we have come to an agreement with Twitter to include their updates ( tweets ) in our search results. We think that our search results and user experience will greatly benefit from this integration of every minute data update, and we are impatient to have a product which illustrates how tweets can improve searches in the coming months "

, declared Marissa Mayer, vice-president of Google search products..

Microsoft has also started to develop the integration of Facebook into their search results, and due to the fact that they are a shareholder of the social networking site it means that for the time being there has been no comment from Google on this subject.