Technology giants Google Inc. (GOOGL) and Twitter (TWTR) reached a deal per which Google will gain full access to data from user tweets and can index them in search results once again. The 140-character tweets will be visible in search results immediately after they are posted on Twitter starting from the first half of 2015. However, the terms of the deal were not disclosed.
This is not the first time that Google will have access to tweets to be included in its search results. The two companies entered into a search results deal in 2009, which expired in 2011. After the expiration of the deal, Twitter replaced Google with Microsoft’s (MSFT) Bing search engine.
Since then, Google has had to go back to Twitter's site for information. But now, once again Google users will be able to see Twitter messages in search results in real time.
Twitter has already struck similar deals with Microsoft and Yahoo (YHOO) but the combined search share of Bing and Yahoo is much smaller when compared to Google, which is the largest online search engine.
The revival of the deal creates opportunities for both Google and Twitter.
The deal will further improve the relevance of Google’s search results and provide users access to real-time tweets and appropriate content. This way Google can maintain its lead in the search and advertising market as competitors are doing their best to pick up market share.
Twitter is a real-time, micro-blogging social network that connects people to the latest information about what interests them.
At the end of the fourth quarter of 2014, Twitter’s average monthly active users (MAUs) were up 20% on a year over year basis to 288 million. However, Twitter lost 4 million net users owing to the rollout of the iOS8 integration. Average mobile MAUs represented around 80% of total MAUs. Twitter added 4 million net new users in the reported quarter and 47 million in 2014.
As it looks for new ways to monetize its platform and stimulate user growth, the deal will provide the social network exposure to a huge number of new users and make its tweets more searchable online, thereby boosting its advertising revenues.
Both Google and Twitter shares carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
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