Twitter announced a partnership with Google back in February that would surface Tweets in Google search results. Now that partnership is up and running.
Tweets Are Showing Up in Google Searches Again
Tweets may now appear in your Google search results.
Gil C / Shutterstock
The deal means that Twitter should get more exposure, which is good for the social network since it’s trying to find more ways to get its public content out to the masses, so it can help solve its growth problems.
Here’s how Twitter explained this in its blog post Tuesday: “When tapping on a Tweet in Google search, you’ll be taken directly to Twitter where you can view the Tweet and discover additional content.” That “discover additional content” part is where Twitter thinks it can hook new users.
The partnership — a repeat of one that existed from 2009 through 2011 — is also a way for Twitter to boost syndicated tweet views, or tweet views that take place on platforms outside of Twitter. It’s a metric Twitter has used in the past to explain to Wall Street how the service is bigger than its logged-in user base lets on.
For Google, the inclusion is another step in its departure from the original ten blue links of search. Lately, Google has been rejiggering its search layout, particularly on mobile, tweaking its algorithm and tacking on new comparative tools for industries like travel bookings, insurance and commerce. The buzzword at Google around search is “knowledge” — a way of positioning the results page as the most immediate, accessible answer to any query. Now tweets are part of that.
The partnership appears to be rolling out slowly. For now, you’ll only see it if you’re using Google’s mobile search app or mobile webpage in the U.S. It should expand more broadly to the desktop and other countries down the road.
There won’t be any promoted tweets — that is, advertising — appearing in search results right now, either. Twitter just started to surface its flagship ad product on other platforms like Flipboard earlier this year, and you can imagine the potential to surface promoted tweets within Google search results someday, too. Just not now.
Additional reporting by Mark Bergen.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
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