Online search firm Yahoo will partner with start-up OneRiot to provide its users with search results based on real-time sharing trends, and will launch a live test of the functionality within days.
OneRiot searches of live data from Twitter, Digg, and other social networking websites will only appear for certain types of queries at the outset, but the Wall Street Journal reports that Yahoo is considering a system-wide integration of the technology. Search engine optimization (SEO) professionals will be watching any future move on that front with interest.
The Journal also says that unnamed sources told it that the OneRiot deal is independent of the one recently made with Microsoft. That partial merger would use Microsoft’s Bing search engine to power searches done on Yahoo’s still-popular search site.
Yahoo competitor Google has offered a similar service for some time called Google Trends, but that service does not provide the same type of search results as those promised by Yahoo’s new program. Both Google and Microsoft have signed deals with Twitter for access to the microblogging site’s real-time data.
