While Twitter may need Google to continue offering archive search, Google also potentially needs Twitter in another way. Google may have lost some of the data it has recently been using to bring social signals into its results, as covered more below:
Google’s Search Results Get More Social; Twitter As The New Facebook “Like”
I’ve not yet been able to check on whether Google Social Search and other parts of Google have been impacted by the deal’s end. I’ll look at that later — I’m heading off to enjoy the 4th Of July myself now.
Update: Google has sent us a statement addressing the issue above:
While we will not have access to this special feed from Twitter, information on Twitter that’s publicly available to our crawlers will still be searchable and discoverable on Google.
As for other features such as social search, they will continue to exist, though without Twitter data from the special feed.
You can certainly understand why Google+ has become even more important to the service now. While Google has gotten by largely without social signals from Facebook, having its own data from Google+ gives it insulation if it now has to get by without Twitter signals, as well.
Rob Laporte on 08 Apr 09* Twitter's Overhyped A number of people commented on Twitter hype growing: * Come on, this is ridiculous. Yes, a large proportion of getting-edge tech geeks use Twitter, but this is still less than 1% of the population as a whole. I'm a tech geek, I work in search and research, but I have never used Twitter in my life and have yet to see a purpose for it. * Have done some research for a couple of companies on where they're showing up in the Web 2.0 space. My feeling is Twitter is a very long way from replacing certain review sites let alone search engines. * Honestly, I believe Twitter will fade rather than become an alternative to search. More people are joining Twitter because others are, but few realize the real value - and that real value has yet to truly reveal itself. * I admit that Twitter will become a great knowledge sharing tool, but it doesn't have the scale to be useful outside of the state of California…yet. * I don't see Twitter overtaking search engines in any way shape or form. For quick contact with friends or very specific advice that's better handled with some quick back and forth, sure, but Twitter lacks the depth, specificity and authority of search engines for 99% of anything I need to look for. * I think Twitter at the moment is over-hyped. Period. * I'm more likely to trust a reliable website that specializes on the topic at hand over a friend or random person who follows me. I also wouldn't have to wait for a response if I just searched for the answer myself. I do like the concept of getting answers to real time issues, but I can accomplish that on facebook (which I have far more connections on). In Summary Made it to the end? Here's a summary of the findings: * Half ask a question on Twitter at least once per week * Nearly 40% are "usually" satisfied with the answers they get * Half "sometimes" or "often" turn to Twitter for questions rather than a traditiona