Google has struck a deal with Twitter to acquire full access of the tweets and their indexing in its search results on a real time basis. Although details of the deal have not been disclosed or confirmed by either party, Google has allegedly entered into a data licensing revenue agreement, and will shell out the money to the tune of US$41 million for the tweets. Google had been indexing tweets till 2011, before the launch of Google+, its social networking site which was believed to be in competition with Twitter. After expiration of the deal, Twitter substituted Google with Bing search engine which is owned by Microsoft. Twitter has signed similar agreements with Bing and Yahoo whose combined search share is much lesser than that of Google.
Both Twitter and Google are set to benefit from the latest licensing deal, which can essentially be considered as renewal of the old deal. Twitter will gain revenue from the increased traffic as the deal will give them access to a user base that is even larger than that of the Facebook. On the other hand, including real time tweets in the search results will help Google gauge the real-time pulse of the world and provide users with more suitable content, helping them maintain its position as the leader in the advertising world. The deal is bound to pose a challenge for Facebook and Apple, as Google gains more relevant search results on a real-time basis and Twitter gets an access to a massive social network.
Recently, Google News closed its operations in Spain, refusing to pay a newly introduced publishing tax. Although Google news and Google Search are different, this new deal with Twitter might make the Governments and news organizations want a share in the revenue generated from Google search results. It will be interesting to see how Google deals with it.
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