Apprehending the fact that social media and real-time search is of as much value for businesses as for consumers, Google Thursday announced that its Google Search Appliance – the company’s search hardware for businesses - will now provide results from Twitter, over and above the traditional Google search results.

With Google already having ensured the availability of related Web results from the public Web to the Google Search Appliance customers, the addition of Twitter results will not only further expand the extent of information that users will see, but also provide a real-time glimpse of trends and issues amongst the masses.

The newest Google move highlights the fact that the influence of social media and the value of real-time search results are too substantial to be ignored by businesses.

Announcing the incorporation of real-time search results from Twitter in the Google Search Appliance, Google product manager Cyrus Mistry said in a blog post: “Social information is important for businesses: Employees searching for information needed to do their jobs benefit from real-time news too.”

Further elaborating the advantages of real-time search for businesses, Mistry added: “They might be developing a new breakfast cereal, or designing a marketing plan for a clothing line, or writing strategy report for a political campaign. In all of these cases, understanding what is being said just as Twitter users are saying it can be invaluable.”