Yahoo Extends Twitter Integration in Search Engine

Yahoo will begin inserting Twitter posts directly into its general Web search results page on Thursday, expanding on an initial integration of Twitter into its search engine.

"Tweets" will now appear in a Twitter-labeled section within Web search results for queries related to what Yahoo algorithmically determines are hot topics at any given time, said Larry Cornett, vice president of consumer experience at Yahoo Search.

"This is showing that we're continuing to bring this real-time information to the search experience, but also directly integrated into the Web search page itself," Cornett said.

Last month, Yahoo added a Twitter tab to the "shortcut" boxes it sometimes displays at the top of Web search results for breaking news topics. Other tabs in those news shortcut boxes include photos and video clips.

All major search engines have been scrambling to incorporate feeds from social media sites like Twitter, which lets people and organizations post public text messages online. In aggregate, these posts offer a pulse about what's on people's minds at any given point. Marketers have also embraced Twitter and other similar microblogging and social networking services as effective tools to promote their goods and services. Thus, demand has grown for tools that let people search through public Twitter posts, a field that has become known as real-time search.

Although Yahoo plans to outsource Web crawling and indexing to Microsoft's Bing when the companies' search deal gets finalized, Yahoo will continue developing front-end enhancements, such as this Twitter integration, for its search engine.