Twitter is in advanced talks with Google and Microsoft to provide them with access to its data, according to a report in All Things Digital.  If successful, this would provide Twitter with a sizeable revenue stream, which would prevent it having to clutter the interface or alienate users by introducing advertising.

On the other hand, Twitter needs to be sensitive to perceptions around privacy of information.  Twitter uses may not be entirely comfortable with Twitter selling information about their preferences, interests, habits etc. to third parties – particularly to Microsoft and/or Google.   

Twitter would gain added legitimacy if it were added as a Vertical Search option in Google alongisde Images, News, Blogs, Maps etc.  Ultimately, Google and Microsoft are attempting to improve their access to the worldwide Web and extend the usefulness and reach of their search engines. For more on the Real-Time Web check this post by ReadWriteWeb.

Tags: data, Google, Microsoft, mining, realtime, Search, twitter, Web