Google's Live Updates Will Be More Relevant Than Twitter?

The new Google search feature will address the need of people who want the most updated information without having to scan multiple sources like Twitter and Facebook. In other words, Google, the Grand-daddy of search engines has found a way to obtain real-time search without the clutter...or so they say!

Biz StoneYet to roll out in the next few days is Google's much anticipated entree' into the real-time search field. And according to Biz Stone, while Twitter maintains a search tool on it site, Google would be better able to provide tweets that were relevant to a particular user's questions, because, "we're not good at relevancy right now, and they are."

Jack MenzelLast month, in discussing ‘real time’ with Jack Menzel, product manager of Google, he stated that “Google’s overall strategy is not limited to Twitter or microblogging, per se. “Yes, it’s important, but what the Google team is presently trying to get their collective head and arms around is capturing ALL the real-time flow of information from all sources whether its Twitter, Facebook, website updates, RSS feeds, blog posts, forums, discussion groups, etc.,” he says, adding that Google’s goal is to focus on “comprehensiveness” where “relevance is king.”

True to their word, Google has found a way to continue to remain relevant in the search engine space. While my article, "Needle in the Haystack: Succeeding at Real-Time Search," was questioning how Google could possibly tackle this insurmountable task, their team of developers were able to think outside of the box and construct a new 'shiny' mousetrap that can capture relevant real-time results.

How it works
According to a NY Times report, Google will provide users with the standard Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) when they type in their keywords. But now, in addition to the SERP listings, users will be introduced to a new Feed Box in the middle of the page where tweets, news articles and blog postings will scroll in as they are released into the Twitterstream or published online in real-time.

Google real-time search box

Twitter has also struck a similar deal with Microsoft and both Facebook and Twitter are not disclosing the specifics of their arrangements with the search engines, suffice it say, "Facebook has said it is not earning money from the deal."

The new features will be rolling out in the next few days and will be available globally in English. Users can try them out by visiting Google Trends and clicking on a "hot topic," which in most cases will bring you to a search results page with the new real-time feature.

Here's a first look at the real-time search features that we all become familiar with very soon...



What still remains a mystery is how Google and Bing will cut through the clutter to surface the most relevant tweets and status updates from Twitter and Facebook.

While Google was not ready to comment on whether the number of one's social network followers would factor into its algorithm, Bing noted, “ Instead of relying only on the number of followers, there are many variables that go into understanding how ‘credible’ a particular Twitter poster is, such as how often his/her tweets are being retweeted, and how many of his/her shared links are shared by others and post velocity. We will constantly evolve this algorithm to enable us to bring users the most authoritative sources for their query.”

On Google's official blog, they issued the following statement on December 7: "Our real-time search features are based on more than a dozen new search technologies that enable us to monitor more than a billion documents and process hundreds of millions of real-time changes each day."

So, if Biz Stone is correct and Google is still the master of relevancy, it looks like the Grand-daddy of search is extending its 10+ years of fame into the next decade. At this rate, Google is going make Andy Warhol's adage look like Whistler's Mother. Got to give props to the Big G!  It appears they seized the opportunity to crack wide open was eluding them for a good part of the year - Real-Time Search Relevancy!