Microsoft, Google to access `Tweets' for search results

Microsoft Corp and Google Inc have entered into agreements with Twitter that will allow them to access real-time content from it to take their search market rivalry to a new plane.

The deals signed yesterday mark the latest development in the escalating competition between the two search engine companies.

The agreements, which have long been coming, are expected to enhance efficacy and add value to the search results by allowing real-time scan of Tweets that are 140-character stream-of-consciousness messages that Twitter hosts on its popular website.

The announcements point to how real-time data in search results is emerging as a pivotal battleground in the search arena.

Microsoft provided an on-stage demonstration of the newly-launched product at the Web 2.0 conference in San Francisco on Wednesday morning while Google announced its own agreement on its company blog promising inclusion of Twitter messages or Tweets in search results in the coming months.

Both companies chose to withhold disclosure of financial terms while Microsoft announced a deal to include content from social network Facebook on Wednesday.

Twitter, the 3-year-old web phenomenon popularised by celebrities and government, attracts tens of millions of visitors each month.

In September, the company received $100 million of financing that valued the company at $1 billion, according to sources close to the development. The company has, however, not yet been able to generate significant revenue from its free service though it says it aims to use advertising and premium features to drive revenues.