July 5, 2023 • By Marius Dosinescu, Founder of Aysa.ai
Just a few days ago, Google ceased crawling and indexing content from Twitter. This sudden change occurred as Twitter modified its access protocols, preventing unregistered or logged-out users from viewing tweets. A notable shift has been observed in the past 24 hours where Twitter has amended its policies once again, now permitting Google, along with unregistered users, to view tweets. However, a modal prompt asking users to sign up for Twitter now overlays the tweets.
The implications of this change for Google Search are substantial. Google can now crawl, render, and identify the content embedded in the tweets, enabling it to index and potentially rank the content.
It is noteworthy that the site command is displaying a greater volume of content from Twitter than it did when Twitter initially implemented its user access change. Digital marketing expert Glenn Gabe had nearly pinpointed the modification, highlighting the modifications to the modal as well as the significantly improved visibility within Google Search.
To elucidate, Glenn Gabe shared on Twitter the change Twitter had made. Instead of completely barring Google and its users from the content, Twitter has opted to display the content with a modal overlay. Below is a screenshot I captured while accessing Glenn’s tweet, while logged out of Twitter:
A glance at the site command reveals that the presence of Twitter’s URLs in Google Search has reverted back to its expected levels. From a low point in the 100 million mark, the count has now significantly surpassed that mark:
Furthermore, Semrush data indicates a considerable surge in visibility for Twitter.com on Google Search, as Glenn highlighted:
It appears that Twitter’s recent modifications, whether intentionally for SEO or not, have resulted in a positive impact on its SEO standing. Consequently, tweets are once again being indexed by Google Search.
This development underscores the dynamic relationship between social media platforms and search engines, and the impact their decisions can have on the broader digital landscape. As more developments unfold, we’ll keep you updated here on dosinescu.ro.
Stay tuned!