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Tweetdeck

Watching the full “lifecycle” of a Google Alert

by Adam Green on April 26, 2009

in AlertRank, Autotweet, Google Alerts, Twitter

I know that some people find Google Alerts to be slow, but let me share an example of how well it can work. I posted on Google Alerts for Swine flu this morning at 9:05 ET.

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Google Alerts was in the title and text, so Google picked it up and sent it out as an alert at 11:43. My AlertRank account picked it up right away, since I monitor all mentions of Google Alerts with, um, Google Alerts. Wait, it get’s more self-referential later.

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I have auto-tweeting set on this account, which tweets 5 of my alerts each hour to a Twitter account called @Marketing_Alert. This showed up on Twitter within a minute of arriving at AlertRank.

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I also monitor mentions of Google Alerts on Twitter in real-time with TweetDeck. I have a search for google (alert OR alerts). This search immediately picked up the alert about my blog post, which had been sent to AlertRank, which then sent it to Twitter. So I ended up seeing this alert in Tweetdeck.

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What can we make of all this frantic, automatic activity? For one thing, Google Alerts is able to pick up a blog post and deliver it in a few hours. Is that real-time? Of course not, but if you complement Google Alerts with Twitter, you can build a highly efficient monitoring system. And if you retweet your alerts, you can reach those who want real-time response.

There is just one problem. Google Alerts is going to pick up this new post, and send it to AlertRank, which will send it to Twitter, which will send it to TweetDeck. I think I need to take a break and go out and do some gardening.

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Why Twitter Search won’t Kill Google Alerts

by Adam Green on March 25, 2009

in AlertRank, Google Alerts, Twitter

There’s been a lot written lately about Twitter killing Google search. The argument for this is generally based on the real-time nature of Twitter search. It is true that you’ll get results on breaking events much faster in Twitter than Google Alerts, but it shouldn’t be an either/or comparison. I monitor Google Alerts with AlertRank, and I watch real-time Twitter searches with TweetDeck, and they both serve me well. You just have to be aware of what you want to get from each service.

Twitter search, whether you use it on the website or through a client, is a great way to find people to follow on Twitter with common interests. It also gives you an immediate zeitgeist reading on the subject you are tracking. Google Alerts helps you find pages, websites and blogs that Google thinks are authoritative on a particular subject. This can be used for PR purposes to build online relationships, or for search engine optimization to build links back to your site.

Both are useful tools, and together they keep you informed about a wide range of topics, just like reading political blogs on the Web and watching cable news on TV. One doesn’t kill the other, even though this is a sexy way to write a headline.

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