Twitter might not be looking to get acquired, but it may be looking to strike a lucrative search deal. And that’s brought Google Inc. and Microsoft Inc. to the stare-down-over-the-table stage yet once again, according to reports.
After reports last week that Google was actually interested in acquiring Twitter, co-founder Biz Stone said the microblogging service, which has yet to figure out a viable advertising model—was looking at business partnerships and new development strategies. A partnership with an online search bigwig would give it new business case avenues to explore.
As we know from something as recent as AT&T Inc. using Twitter to communicate with the public about the fiber cut that caused thousands of people in Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area to be without communications on Thursday, Twitter is a great information dissemination tool. Search-enabling Twitter would give users a valuable way to find the conversations and information they need within the millions of Tweets that get generated on a daily basis. That in turn would make it an even more valuable tool for those doing the Tweeting.
Meanwhile, Twitter itself would get a revenue share from the search provider at the very least. And the search engine would expand its base of eyeballs.
