Twitter Slams Google: Social Search Changes Are ‘Bad for People’ ~ Pare News

The social networking war just heated up a few degrees.

After Google announced Tuesday morning that it would more closely integrate Google+ into its regular search results, vocal opposition to the changes arrived Tuesday afternoon from an unlikely source: Twitter.

A statement from the microblogging company said Twitter’s real-time information was often the most relevant result on Google. “As we’ve seen time and time again, news breaks first on Twitter,” the company said. “We’re concerned that as a result of Google’s changes, finding this information will be much harder for everyone.”

SEE ALSO: Google Merges Search and Google+ Into Social Media Juggernaut

The Google update, known as “Search Plus Your World,” blends Google+ pages that have been made public in with regular search results on Google — although the Google+ results are clearly annotated. It’s a fairly major update for Google+ users — of which there are now reportedly 62 million — and a fairly minor update for the rest of us.

Still, it evidently got the warning klaxons blaring over at Twitter HQ. Here’s the complete statement, care of Twitter spokesman Matt Graves:

For years, people have relied on Google to deliver the most relevant results anytime they wanted to find something on the Internet.

Often, they want to know more about world events and breaking news. Twitter has emerged as a vital source of this real-time information, with more than 100 million users sending 250 million Tweets every day on virtually every topic. As we've seen time and time again, news breaks first on Twitter; as a result, Twitter accounts and Tweets are often the most relevant results.

We're concerned that as a result of Google's changes, finding this information will be much harder for everyone. We think that's bad for people, publishers, news organizations and Twitter users.

SEE ALSO: Mashable’s Complete Guide to Google+

We’ve also reached out to Facebook for its take on Google’s search tweaks. But what do you think? Is Twitter being oversensitive, or did Google misuse its monopoly power? Have you spotted any difference in your search results? Let us know in the comments.