Google vs Twitter
- At September 28, 2011
- By Jon Barker
- In Marketing, Social Media
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It seems that everywhere it goes, Google is running into competitors. Of course, that might be because it’s offering some of the best services out there for free. We have Google Docs, Voice, Books, and tons of other products that are usually paid for. Not to mention that these Google products are done much better than their competitors. Just look at Microsoft Word vs Google Docs. So it’s fair to say that Google kind of looks for it’s competitors. And then kicks their trash.
But Twitter? How is Twitter possibly Google’s number one competitor? Well, if we look at it, people are wanting more results, and they want them to be more relevant. This is Google’s strength, hands down. So what does Twitter do? It’s a lot more than what this video says:
Twitter has a MASSIVE amount of data. And the best part is it’s updated LIVE. And I don’t mean live like a news reporter is out there reporting on the scene. It’s much more than that. It’s not a reporter giving his or her two cents on the issue. It’s live as in other people are out there putting the information out as it happens. Just for example, the first news that broke about the killing of bin Laden came from Twitter.
That’s HUGE! That’s taking live reporting to a completely new and different level. Yes, people want more results and they want those results to be relevant. Again, by far, this is Google’s strong suit. But, where Twitter comes in is their speed. It’s happening now. People don’t have to wair for CNN, BCC, Fox or anyone else to hear about it, send a reporter out, interview and then give us their two cents. People log on and tweet. That’s it’s power.
AJ Kohn posted that Google is not competing with Twitter (this was in 09). I disagree with that. If Twitter can solve the relevance problem, it will be a big huge competitor with Google. Hands down. Now it’s just a waiting game to see if when they’ll do it…
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AJ Kohn
Thanks for linking to my post on the issues Twitter has in delivering relevant results. It was interesting to go back and read something I'd written so long ago.
While my opinions often evolve, this time they haven't. Twitter might get better at being a content discovery service by pushing Tweets that people I follow are Tweeting (aka Summify) but it still doesn't have real search ambitions. It's just … awful for searching.
Breaking news is certainly a strength for Twitter but that only comprises a very small sliver of query intent. It's the crawl at the bottom of CNN, not enough to make Google nervous, particularly since they can easily leverage Google+ and provide a decent 'live' experience.
Right now Twitter is evolving and, in my view, will wind up looking a lot more like Tumblr. By making Twitter more visual and locking out third-party copies (watch out Hootsuite) Twitter becomes a destination site which commands attention – the perfect opportunity for advertising.
avalancheindust
It was a great article! I’m thinking more and more that Twitter realizes that Google isn’t something they want to play (read compete) with. Google’s bread and butter is search. That’s what they started doing and that’s what keeps them going. When they have billions of search a day (I think they’re up to that now – I would have to double check) delivering incredibly relavant searches, it’s hard to compete with that. Twitter’s search is terrible, there’s no denying that. And yes, news is a very tiny portion of it. If they could find some sort of way to improve the search, it would be a little better. But not enough. I don’t think they’re going to try to improve it, especially after Google launched Google+. It will be interesting to see which direction they go.
Thanks for the comment!