Twitter - Worlds Fastest Growing Search Engine!

Which is the fastest growing search engine on the internet? Any guesses? The most common answers would be Google and Bing. Some users might even believe that Wolfram Alpha and Baidu might have a chance as well. The answer is bound to surprise most users because the world’s fastest growing search engine isn’t actually a search engine. It’s Twitter!

Already considered to be the world’s fastest growing micro-blogging site and world’s most popular social network, Twitter has just added another feather in its cap by being crowned the world’s fastest growing search engine.

800 Million Search Queries Everyday

Twitter receives a whopping 800 million search queries everyday. Prorate that for a month and it comes out to nearly 24 billion queries per month. That’s a hell lot of search traffic. In fact, it’s more than the combined search traffic of Yahoo and Bing.

In contrast, Google has nearly 88 billion search queries per month. While Twitter has a long way to catch up with Google, it is growing at an astonishing pace as compared to the latter. Twitter has already added nearly 33% more traffic in the last one year and its increasing popularity is becoming a matter of concern for Google. That’s another good reason why Google will buy Twitter.

Not Just a Social Network

One of the major reasons behind Twitter’s all round popularity is that it wears many hats. It isn’t a pure social network and neither does it classify as a search engine. It is an amalgamation of the best of all worlds – microblogging, social networking, social marketing, online shopping, online advertising, news, and search.

Given the variety of information needs served by Twitter, it is hardly surprising that it enjoys far greater popularity than any other social network be it Facebook or Myspace.

Live Updates

Twitter is increasingly being used over other search engines to find live updates on current events. The FIFA 2010 World Cup is a case in point. There are several other examples – the G20 protests in Toronto, the earthquake in Central Canada in late June, which signify Twitter’s increasing dominance when it comes to finding real time information about time sensitive topics.

Twitter vs. Google

Though many people believe that a comparison between Google and Twitter is unfair, I personally believe that Twitter is looking well poised to challenge Google’s search supremacy. Of course, it is a mountainous task to topple Google but it’s not impossible.

The first thing that Twitter needs to do is to sort out its stability issues. The “Twitter is over capacity” blue whale thing happens way too often for anybody’s comfort. Next, Twitter needs some advanced search options like the ones offered by Google. Add in some innovative out of the box thinking and a smart implementation and you can set the alarm bells ringing at Google Inc.

I personally believe that Twitter and Google are the two companies which will have the biggest say in redefining the future of the internet. If they can work together, that would be great. Else, it might be a mouth-watering prospect to see Twitter challenge the mighty Google.

After all, a few years back Google took over the reins from Microsoft and Yahoo as the premiere search engine. So, I don’t see any reason why Twitter might not take over the reins from Google Inc.!

What are your thoughts on this? Leave your comments below.

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