Google search plans include Twitter-style updates

Google's search may be given more real-time updates

At a US press event this week Google said it has been considering making real-time updates to its search offering.

Search executive Marissa Mayer said she was thinking of adding micro-blogging messaging to search to bring more value to end users. She said web users are interested in seeing what is happening in real time, and this has been demonstrated by Twitter's success.

"We are interested in being able to offer, for example, micro-blogging and micro-messaging in our search," said Mayer, according to reports in the Los Angeles Times.

"Particularly in Blog Search and possibly in Web Search, but we don't have any particular plans to announce."

Meanwhile, as Google catches on to the Twitter phenomenon, Twitter co-founder and current chairman Jack Dorsey is planning his next start-up that will allow Apple's iPhone to read credit cards and take payments, according to a report on TechCrunch, citing sources close to the new company.

The report said the new company is code-named Squirrel and will focus on making an add-on for the iPhone, as well as an iPhone application, for merchants.

Finally, in related news a new search mechanism for Twitter was launched on Friday called Scoopler.

Scoopler is a real-time search engine for Twitter, Flickr, Digg and Delicious and allows users to hover over results to see the listed page content without leaving the site.

George Colony, chief executive at analyst firm Forrester Research said in a blog post that he had initially underestimated the power of Twitter.

"Forrester's chief operating officer, Charles Rutstein, and I made fun of Twitter when it came out," he said. "We instantly pronounced the whole concept to be brain dead."

But as soon as Forrester acquired a company called Jupiter Research, and Colony wanted to gauge the emotions of his new employees, he realised the benefits of being able to tap into Twitter streams. "I signed up for Twitter the next day," he said.