Twazzup: New All-In-One Twitter Search Engine

While the major search engines continue to sit in the proverbial driveway, real-time search is in high gear and speeding along without a speed bump in site. And with Twitter offering what’s becoming the default real-time web experience (more so than Facebook or FriendFeed, in my opinion), it’s no wonder that Twitter search engines are starting to pop up on a regular basis.

Earlier this month I profiled the new OneRiot Twitter search engine, and now via Louis Gray, we learn about Twazzup, another new entry into the Twitter search race. Where OneRiot is focused on sorting through the Twitter noise and helping users find just the links and web content that people are talking about, Twazzup takes everything Twitter has to offer — noise and all — and lets users find what interests them most.

Here’s a look at the Twazzup interface (you can click to see the larger version on Flickr) after a search this morning for “U2″:

A stream of tweets shows up in the main content block on the left. These are shown in real time, although it appears that Twitter is running slow this morning — both Twazzup and Twitter’s own search engine are showing tweets about 15-20 minutes delayed as I write this. Twazzup shows recommended search refinements in small, gray boxes above the real time stream; a series of U2 concert tickets went on sale today, so some of the refinements include “vegas,” “houston,” “tickets,” and “muse” (one of the opening acts).

Twazzup’s unique content is to the right:

• Popular Tweets – this needs work; the example in the screenshot is from a coupon service and has nothing to do with U2. It’s there because ‘u2′ appears in the shortened URL. (Seems like an invitation for spamming via custom short URLs.)
• Top Trendmakers – accounts whose tweets are driving conversation
• Related Photos – related photos from Twitpic, updated in real time
• Most Popular Links – links most often included in tweets related to the keyword

Aside from the “Popular Tweets” issue I mentioned above, Twazzup provides a good Twitter search experience — and one that’s different enough from others to make it a valuable addition to the real-time search engine field.