Google has taken the next step towards real-time search results by signing deals with MySpace and Facebook to include publicly available status updates in its search index. Google recently signed a similar agreement with Twitter. According to a Google spokesperson, the partnerships will go live on Google across all English language domains (both .com and .co.uk) “over the coming days.”

When a Google user runs a search on a particular topic, they will now receive real-time updates from the three social media sites as well as the usual list of search results – a development the business community would do well to take on board. Search engine optimization efforts will now need to include a social media presence if businesses are to succeed in putting their brands at the top of the Google search results for relevant search terms.

In a recent interview with The Telegraph, Tom Stocky, Google’s director of product management said: “People want the most up-to-date information and that’s what services such as Twitter have provided a great platform for – which is why we are really happy to work with them and gain access to that information so we can deeply embed it into our search system.”

Stocky emphasized the importance of speed to Google search: “Search speed means two things: one – how quickly results come back to you and two – how quickly we can update the information. Adding real-time results to our product will massively help with the latter part of this definition. We have to make our results as fresh and relevant as possible.”

Bing is also taking steps towards real-time search results. It is currently running a separate site which integrates ‘tweets’, although it has yet to integrate Twitter updates into its main search. The company is also working on a similar dedicated site for Facebook updates.

“Googling” may have become a verb in its own right, but that isn’t stopping other search engines from trying to steal the Internet giant’s crown.

Yahoo and Microsoft, which handle 20.4% and 8.2% of all Internet search queries respectively, are both on the cusp of unveiling new technology that will enable their results to be displayed in relevant groups rather than a list of links. Microsoft’s new search engine is rumoured to be called Bing, and will replace the current search engine Live. Not much is known about Bing yet, although Chief Executive Steve Ballmer is due to speak at the All Things Digital conference later today, so he may soon reveal more. A search for “web copy writer London” (we’re sticking with the industry we know!) via Bing may display information about how to write for the web, alongside details of copy writers local to London, and web copywriting blogs. Such a search on Live.com currently generates a list of links related to copy writing – some relevant, some not - that users have to go through individually in order to find what they’re looking for.

Yahoo’s strategy is similar: the company aims to display images and answers from databases instead of a series of links. It is no surprise, then, that Yahoo and Microsoft are in talks to tackle Google by collaborating with each other on search. In fact, Sandeep Aggarwal, senior Internet research analyst with Collins Stewart LLC, thinks there will be a Microsoft-Yahoo search deal by the time the companies report their quarterly results in late July.

If competing search engines think Google is resting on its laurels, however, they could be in for a shock. New improvements are being made to the Google Suggest tool which was recently introduced to give users more control over their search results. Suggestions will now be provided when users make additional search queries from results pages whereas previously they were only offered when making a query from the Google homepage. Relevant past searches will be displayed when users have web history enabled, so they can repeat some of the searches they carry out most frequently. Sponsored links will also appear in the list of suggestions, which could help companies who want to target users most interested in their products and services with search engine marketing and pay per click ads.