The Real Thing is (almost) Back…

If you’ve been missing the appearance of real-time results in your Google searches over the past month, relief is on the way.

Realtime Search was Google’s way of including relevant posts and data from sites like Facebook, Twitter, and other social media services in real time.

During a recent search panel in California, Google Fellow Amit Singhal revealed that the Google Search team is actively working on bringing Google Realtime Search back to search results, after its hiatus that began in July. The service had been revoked due to Google’s failure to come to an agreement with Twitter, whose data Google had been accessing to deliver accurate real-time results. Without Twitter’s data, the feature was subpar, resulting in its discontinuation.

So why the Realtime revival now? Simple: Google+.

In addition to other social sources, with the real-time data that Google+’s social network can provide, Google believes the feature can again be robust enough to re-introduce to search results, even without data from Twitter.

In addition to the re-introduction of Realtime Search, Singhal also indicated that Google is also working on adding a search function to the Google+ stream, which it currently lacks and is one of Google+’s most requested features.

What the Realtime Search Comeback Means for Marketers

Thought you could put social media optimization on the back burner because of Google’s discontinuation of Realtime Search? Think again.

Because of its inclusion in Google search results, social media participation is more important for marketers than ever. For businesses with a lackluster social media presence, the re-emergence of Realtime Search should be a wakeup call. Marketers should take the time to build a solid social media presence and actively update social media accounts with fresh, keyword-optimized content for a better chance of getting indexed in real-time results.

How is your social media presence faring? If you feel like it’s nothing to write home about, it might be time for some dedication to your own social media revival.

Image Credit: Bruce Clay, Inc.