For those who remember, Google gained access to Twitter data earlier this year due to a new deal between Google and Twitter. At first, it was found that the number of Tweets being indexed were very low. Back in February, the amount of Tweets that was indexed was at just .6%. Once the deal with Twitter begun to roll out, Google began indexing far more Tweets according to a report by Stone Temple Consulting.
In the months between February to June, Stone Temple found that there was an increase in Tweets index by 466% within the fist week. Although the amount of Tweets were only .6% back in February, the amount of indexed Tweets shot up to 3.4% by last month. Even though a 466% jump seems like a good deal, we have to keep in mind that the starting point was a mere .6%. There are still more than 96% of Tweets that haven’t been indexed yet. It looks like Google still has quite a ways to go.
It seems that Google has a bias towards Twitter accounts with a high follower account, and even more so to those that have a higher “Social Authority,” which is similar to previous findings. Stone Temple shows that just because Google has this higher follower bias, that isn’t necessarily always mean that its all about the follower count. There seems to be a connection between those who have a higher engagement level and overall “authority” and indexation as well.
Stone Temple Consulting analyized the same exact 900+ user set that was analyzed back in February. Also, to perform the study, the desktop user agent was used.
For the full results, see the in-depth report over at Stone Temple Consulting.