Twitter: Google+ Integration In Google Search Is “Bad” For Everyone

It’s only been a few hours since Google announced “Search, Plus Your World”, a deeper integration of content from two of its own products — Google+ and Picasa — into Google’s main search results. And one of Google’s major competitors in the social space is already speaking out against it.

In a statement sent a short time ago to a number of news outlets, Twitter says that Google is making it harder for people to find tweets and Twitter account information in Google’s search results, and says that’s “bad for people, publishers, news organizations and Twitter users.”

Here’s the full text of Twitter’s statement:

For years, people have relied on Google to deliver the most relevant results anytime they wanted to find something on the Internet.

Often, they want to know more about world events and breaking news. Twitter has emerged as a vital source of this real-time information, with more than 100 million users sending 250 million Tweets every day on virtually every topic. As we’ve seen time and time again, news breaks first on Twitter; as a result, Twitter accounts and Tweets are often the most relevant results.

We’re concerned that as a result of Google’s changes, finding this information will be much harder for everyone. We think that’s bad for people, publishers, news organizations and Twitter users.

As we wrote here on Marketing Land earlier, this is the latest in a long line of ways that Google is pushing Google+ across its properties. And, as Danny Sullivan suggested in his Search Engine Land article, there may be additional antitrust concerns — justified or not — from Google’s move to feature more content from its own products so prominently in search results.

In that piece, Google says it would be open to including content from sites such as Facebook and Twitter, but Google doesn’t have any agreements with them right now. John Battelle suggested earlier today that “hell will freeze over” before the companies come to any such agreement.

We have an email out to Facebook for their reaction. We’ll update this story if/when we get a reply.

Postscript: See the following stories for important updates:

• Search Engines Should Be Like Santa From “Miracle On 34th Street”
• Schmidt: Google+ Not Favored, Happy To Talk Twitter & Facebook Integration
• Real-Life Examples Of How Google’s “Search Plus” Pushes Google+ Over Relevancy
• To Understand Google Favoritism, Think “If Google+ Were YouTube”

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Matt McGee

Matt McGee is the Editor-In-Chief of Marketing Land and Search Engine Land. His news career includes time spent in TV, radio, and print journalism. After leaving traditional media in the mid-1990s, he began developing and marketing websites and continued to provide consulting services for more than 15 years. His SEO and social media clients ranged from mom-and-pop small businesses to one of the Top 5 online retailers. Matt is a longtime speaker at marketing events around the U.S., including keynote and panelist roles. He can be found on Twitter at @MattMcGee. You can read Matt's disclosures on his personal blog. You can reach Matt via email using our Contact page.