Google and Microsoft both announced a brace of social networking deals with Facebook and Twitter at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco yesterday.
Both Microsoft and Google have struck deals to display real-time Twitter updates in their search engines.
Microsoft said it had launched a beta version of Bing Twitter search, currently only available in the US.
“We now have access to the entire public Twitter feed,” Microsoft online services president Qi Lu said. “You can see the full feed of tweets natively in Bing experience, and this updates in real-time.”
In a blog post, Google VP of search products Marissa Mayer said the Google-Twitter tie-up was a way for the company to bolster its search results with up-to-the-minute data.
“That way, the next time you search for something that can be aided by a real-time observation, say, snow conditions at your favorite ski resort, you'll find tweets from other users who are there and sharing the latest and greatest information,” she said.
Neither party would divulge the financial terms of their deals, but both hinted that money will trade hands, TechCrunchsaid.
Lu confirmed that Microsoft is working with Facebook on a similar deal, but did not disclose further details.
Google will reportedly next week announce another major deal – this time over music. Google will partners with several music streaming sites to integrate song sampling into search results, anonymous sources told the New York Times.
Facebook has arranged its own deal to sells songs through its Facebook gift store in partnership with online music site Lala, the latter company said. But Facebook declined to confirm the claim.