Twitterers with larger followings may get better Google ranking

Now that Google, Bing and Yahoo have rolled out real-time search and have access to Twitter's tweets (try saying THAT fast five times) there is talk about how those tweets will be ranked. In January, Technology Review published an interesting article, "How Google Ranks Tweets," musing on how Twitter reputation will figure prominently into ranking:

Amit Singhal, a Google Fellow, who led development of real-time search. (Twitterers "follow" the comments of other Twitterers they've selected, and are themselves "followed.")

"You earn reputation, and then you give reputation. If lots of people follow you, and then you follow someone--then even though this [new person] does not have lots of followers," his tweet is deemed valuable because his followers are themselves followed widely, Singhal says. It is "definitely, definitely" more than a popularity contest, he adds.

 Andrew Shotland at Local SEO Guide ran a great blog article March 2nd summarizing the factors that Google, Bing, and Yahoo consider when ranking their real-time search results. Read it here: Real Time Search Ranking Factors #SMX. Search engines have difficulty identifying authoritative people with small follower bases, and thus have trouble identifying reputable tweets. His advice is to get more followers and make sure  there is a lot of interaction between you and your followers. 

What does all this mean for your brand or business? Strategically, having a large number of "authoritative" followers, and interacting with your followers may be able to help your ranking. Of course, having a reputation yourself doesn't hurt, either.