Twitter may be left out in the cold when it comes to its integration with two of the biggest search engines on the planet. Following news earlier this month that Google had eliminated Tweets in search results, word now comes that Microsoft also may pull the plug on Twitter results appearing in Bing.

If that comes to pass, it could be bad news for Twitter which has relied on the partnerships with Google and Microsoft for much of its revenue to date. But it also may hurt Microsoft, which is locked in an ongoing battle with Google and could use its integration with Twitter (and Facebook) to gain an advantage in what’s known as real-time search.

Liz Gannes at All Things D reports — citing sources close to the situation — that Microsoft and Twitter are far apart on a number of issues.

Gannes reports:

Several sources said that the pair is still far apart on a number of issues, including the price and term of the data licensing, the way the tweets and advertising linked to it will be presented on Bing, the cut of that advertising and even how much traffic Bing pushes back to Twitter.

Google cut off Twitter feed in early July, with Danny Sullivan at Search Engine Land reporting that the company could fall back on its new Google + social networking service.

Interestingly, Gannes’ report comes after Microsoft “accidentally” leaked a social search project this week code-named Tulalip. Could that leak have been a negotiating tactic in the larger discussions with Twitter?

 

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