Google now integrating Twitter into its search results [@SmartInsights alert]

Twitter suddenly becomes more important to marketers with the latest integration - now rolled out to desktop as well as mobile

Importance: [rating=5] For Digital Marketers, Social Media Marketers and SEO consultants

Recommended link: Google's original announcement of new Twitter Integration

So, they've made up! You may remember how Google used to partner with Twitter and take their firehose to display tweets in near real-time - I remember it was sub ten seconds. Then they fell out and this feature disappeared back in July 2011. Well a new form of the integration is back as has been previewed over the last few months. I've been taking a look to see how significant it will be for businesses. It looks like a great deal for Twitter to me and an acknowledgment by Google that Twitter, not Google+ is THE source for real-time updates as it had hoped.

What marketers need to know about Google's Twitter integration

1. The new 'Popular on Twitter' feature was available on mobile only to start with, now on desktop too.

This integrated was first launched in mobile on the 19th May 2015, when we originally announced it, but we've updated this post since it's now live on desktop as well, meaning it has finished rolling out worldwide.

Google announced the rollout with a Tweet to Twitter, and Twitter was pretty happy about it!

You got it, @google. We'll bring the Tweets. ?

— Twitter (@twitter) August 21, 2015

One example of the importance of this change shows in this example of a brand or navigational or search, which you'll know is one of the main ways people reach sites when they're already aware of the business.

You can see that Twitter is now in second natural position after the Google Sitelinks and displacing Facebook to third even though this is more important.

If you update your Twitter regularly it will populate results straightaway - within seconds and displays the time of the update with an image to help show your brand as more dynamic.

2. Twitter results are prominent for some search results only, displaying in a 'Popular in Twitter' carousel 'OneBox'. This gives a link through to the Twitter Profile and recent tweets:

In some cases, as here for a celeb, the carousel appears right at the top of the listing. I'm surprised about this since I'm not sure this is what users will want, but it does vary by type of search and Google's OneBox featuring different types of content such as images automagically changes position depending on how popular it is.

3. It's typically displaying for 'trending topics' only not for product or brand information. As would be expected, it only displays for when something is being shared actively on Twitter. This means the 'Popular on Twitter' often displays below the 'News' box when that is triggered. Adding a hashtag also makes the carousel more likely to appear.

So it looks like it's should encourage more 'Real-Time marketing' where brands look to be involved in broader conversations.

Google's intro post suggests this too:

'It’s a great way to get real-time info when something is happening. And it’s another way for organizations and people on Twitter to reach a global audience at the most relevant moments'.

Brands may appear if Twitter is added to the search string:

4. It was in English only originally but it is being rolled-out to all languages. Google say:

'To start, we’re launching this on Google.com in English in the Google app (on Android and iOS) and on mobile browsers, rolling out gradually. We’re working on bringing it to more languages and to desktop, so stay tuned'.