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Yesterday, Google suspended its Real Time Search feature, which gave users results from Twitter and a bunch of other real-time news sources.
Today, Google told Search Engine Land the reason: its 2009 deal to suck information from the Twitter “firehose” has expired, and the companies haven’t reached a deal for Google to continue using it.
Google signed the deal in October 2009 — right around the time Microsoft announced its own real-time search deal with Twitter. There seemed to be a “me-too” element to the deal at the time, like Google was almost forced to sign with Twitter so Bing wouldn’t have an exclusive.
But last week, Google launched its own social networking service, Google+. Part of the reason for Google+ is to give the company a home-built source of information about what people like and are following on the Web — the kind of “interest graph” that Twitter could so easily build by tracking what people are following.
So with Google+, the company doesn’t need Twitter as badly as it did two years ago.
Google says that it will relaunch Real Time Search with information from Google+ as well as third-party sources. But as long as it’s got Google+, it can drive a harder bargain with Twitter.
Don’t miss: Everything You Need To Know About Google+.
Article source: SAI http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/alleyinsider/silicon_alley_insider/~3/fLYFVBaVq98/google-lets-contract-with-twitter-expire-2011-7