Twitter, Google and Facebook add search updates

The new Twitter feature is likely to appeal to marketing professionals

Twitter, Google and Facebook have added new search functionality to provide users with more relevant data.

Twitter officially released its long awaited real-time search for all blog updates made to the site. The search tool works in a similar way to the Twitterfall application, but is easier to access because of its integration with user profiles.

The addition is particularly likely to appeal to marketing professionals eager to gauge how well a brand or product is doing with consumers.

"With the addition of search, you can ask Twitter to build you a fresh timeline of updates based on a keyword or phrase," said co-founder Biz Stone in the company blog. "It's a whole new experience with a familiar look and feel."

Users can save the searches, keeping the keywords as links on their home page.

Meanwhile, Google will now offer Gmail users the ability to search the web from their email account and then paste the results into messages. The feature can be turned on from the Labs tab under Settings.

And Facebook has launched a new Friends Page that will make it easier for users to track down contacts by giving them the ability to search their email accounts.

Friends Lists have been added to users' home pages, allowing them to filter updates according to whether the contacts are personal or work related.