Two former Microsoft software engineers are to launch the
beta version of a real-time search engine for Twitter later
today.
Husband and wife team Ken and Becca Moss describe
Crowdeye as a "new
generation of search engine" that will enable users to track
discussions on Twitter.
They claim CrowdEye aggregates and segments information in new
ways by scanning through tweets, retweets, and twitter links in
real time.
Users can identify the most popular links and topics, see how
many tweets include specified keywords in a certain time period and
even who tweeted on a breaking news story first.
The search engine is designed to help users know what people are
thinking about topics of interest
in real time, but also provides "rewind" functionality like
Google's Wave.
Initially only three days worth of data will be available, but
CrowdEye's developers plan to expand this and add other features
with input from users.
Real-time social search has been an "obsession" of Ken's since
leaving Microsoft last year after nearly 20 years at the company,
most recently as general manager of Live Search, now
Bing.com.
It is becoming increasingly possible to tap into the stream of
information on the internet and use it to draw conclusions and make
informed decisions based on the wisdom of crowds, he said.