Twitter is growing exponentially the past couple of months in terms of site traffic, usage and membership. Because of this the number of Tweets posted on the Twitter timeline also increases. So there is a heightened need for a better “search engine” that could effectively answer users’ needs of finding the right information on Twitter.
Twitter’s native search engine which was recently added on the Twitter home page was a good effort by the Twitter engineers to provide users with a good search facility. But then, given the sophisticated needs of users who have grown accustomed to more robust search engines such as Google, Microsoft and Yahoo, talks started to surface on whether Twitter is negotiating with both Google and Microsoft for possible search partnership.
Loren reported recently (with a reference to a TechCrunch post) that Google was keen on acquiring Twitter for a more than $ 250 million valuation. But at the end of the day, the report remained a rumor.
Things became more interesting when Kara of All Things D wrote a piece mentioning that Microsoft is also interested in getting a piece of Twitter’s popularity and in fact is already also negotiating a deal with Twitter.
Google vs. Microsoft (again)
Looking at the impending battle for the right to acquire Twitter, Google has the advantage. For one, Twitter’s co-founder and CEO Evan Williams have previously struck a deal with Google when he sold Blogger. But the thing is, Evans experience with the Google-Blogger deal was less than pleasant, prompting him to leave the company later on. If Twitter is to be sold to Google, Evans would surely get out of his way to make this deal far better than the Blogger deal.
So what does Microsoft has to offer? Perhaps better than the rumored $ 250 million valuation which it can very well give, given its financial status? But the more important question is what will Microsoft do with Twitter? A Live Search-powered Twitter search engine? Certainly not something that Twitter loyalist would want to have, right? A Google-powered Twitter search engine still sounds better, that is if you don’t mind seeing Google’s paid ads running along your Twitter public timeline.
Is There Really a Cause to Fight For?
Up to now, both Microsoft and Google are still studying the whole Twitter model to know how to integrate Twitter’s famous 140-character microblogging service into both their respective web business. But given the growing popularity of Twitter, even sometimes overwhelming Facebook, expect to have a heated battle erupting soon.
Whoever gets Twitter in the end would not exactly emerge as the winner. Because whoever gets Twitter must still face the hurdles of the throngs of Twitter users that would definitely protest against this acquisition and would want to preserve the old good basic Twitter environment.
But one thing is for sure, engaging in a fight to win Twitter will not only be worth the efforts of the two parties involved, but moreso for Twitter.
