Laura Donovan
In February Twitter struck a deal with Google making its Tweets searchable online. The deal gives Google access to Twitter’s constant stream of data.
There are over 284 million Twitter users with 247,222 Tweets per minute. (Domo) Twitter has a constant stream of data 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Google indexes the Tweets as soon as they are posted to Twitter. Tweets started to be visible in search results as soon as they are posted.
While this introduces a new level of search capabilities it has not been “game-changing.” A study conducted by Stone Temple Consulting in June found that Google only indexed about 0.6% of Tweets and has since only increased to 3.4% and up until now the Tweets were indexed for mobile searches only.
We are seeing more Twitter content in search results, but there are still a lot of Tweets that don’t make it through.
While 96% of the Tweets are not showing in searches there is a stipulation, Stone Temple Consulting reported, “By no means do I think that this will be the end of the story. I would bet that Google is testing many things with Twitter integration, and that we will see changes over time.”
As the search results have, up until now, been mobile-only, desktop searches are starting to see Tweets indexed in results. While mobile is extremely popular and the user numbers are high, desktop still has the largest amount of search traffic. Thus, a significant change to these results will be when Google fully integrates Tweets into desktop searches. (Some users are already seeing Tweets in desktop searches.)
(Image Source: Search Engine Land)
Why does this matter?
Tweets could play an important part in a user’s search efforts. Those Tweets could result in being extremely influential. The relevance of the Tweet may just be additional content related to the search, but it could show something completely different and relevant.
For brands it could have a great impact.
For example, someone searching for a service company to repair their washing machine sees ABC Repair Company listed #1 in the search results, but a negative Tweet pops up about how awful ABC Repair Company is, rude, expensive, etc. It is likely that user will not be calling ABC to repair their washing machine.
Tweets about brands may be extremely influential to users. So, while that business may come up #1 in the Google search, if a negative Tweet pops up it may negate their SEO efforts.
Brands need to take note and realize that their Twitter efforts may need to be increased. Tweets could end up costing them business. Brands will need to step up and join the Twitter conversation or there could be significant consequences to their bottom-line.
Currently, Google is still only showing a small amount of Tweets. However, it is highly likely they are going to be implementing better ways to incorporate Twitter data into searches. Brands should be upping their Twitter game and start participating in the conversation now or at least starting the conversation.
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