Bing and Google sign Twitter search deals

Twitter has decided not to play favourites, and instead go for market share, signing real-time search deals with rivals Microsoft and Google on the same day.

The two firms will be given access to Twitter's data for search. The financial terms of the deals weren't disclosed.

For Google, the agreement means results from Twitter will soon be surfaced in search listings, giving users access to real-time information from the social networking site.

"We believe that our search results and user experience will greatly benefit from the inclusion of this up-to-the-minute data, and we look forward to having a product that showcases how tweets can make search better in the coming months," said search products vice president Marissa Mayer in a blog post.

"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 the product would arrive "in the coming months."

After Bing launched earlier this year, it quickly added Twitter-friendly features, including feeds from a selection of celebrities in searches.

With such features and its beta already going live, it seems a few steps ahead of Google when it comes to searching Twitter.

Microsoft was also expected to announced that it would be including data from Facebook in Bing, but details on that service were scarce.

Click here for our guide to Twitter for business.