Bing integrates Twitter data into search

Microsoft's new search engine Bing will integrate real-time Twitter data into its search results.

Rather than simply index Twitter profiles and older tweets like search engines have done before, a Bing user will be able to see the latest tweets of prominent Twitter users - such as Al Gore - at the top of the search page.

To do this, a user needs to type something along the lines of Al Gore Twitter, Al Gore tweets or @algore in the search box. The answer will include their latest tweets as well as a link to their Twitter page.

Sean Suchter, general manager for Microsoft's Search Technology Centre, said in a blog post that they picked a few thousand users to start with, based on their follower count and tweet volume.

He said: "We think this is an interesting first step towards using Twitter's API to surface tweets in people search."

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