Useful Twitter Search API's

There is so much information available on Twitter, it's almost a shame that more developers don't leverage the activity occurring on Twitter.

Integrating "tweets" and the information that surrounds that content would add an entirely new social layer into applications.

Let's take a look at a few of the most popular Twitter-focused API's now. Are you using one of these API's within your own application or do you know of another, perhaps better, alternative? If so, comment below and share it with other members of the Website Magazine community.

Twitter API: Clearly the best way to search Twitter is through the Twitter API. Summize was acquired by Twitter and now powers their official search engine and search API. Twitter's API gives RESTful access to the Twitter database and activity streams (users, tweets, friends, followers, favorites and more), using XML and JSON formats. The API provides optional restriction on language, from, to, and hashtags which is useful in finding tweets, users and even trends.


BackTweets API: BackTweets is a search engine for links on Twitter. Enter a URL and see all conversations and tweets that reference that link. XML and JSON responses are supported. API calls (1K request daily limit) are required - API keys can be obtained from the BackType Developers Page.


Tweet Scan API: Use the Tweet Scan API to get search results from Tweet Scan, a real-time search engine for Twitter, identi.ca, and eight other Laconica-based sites. An API key is required. There are no usage fees (although if you use the RSS, a link back is required) and a limit of 2k requests per day.


Tweetmeme API: Tweetmeme is a service which aggregates links on twitter to determine which are the most popular. Tweetmeme is able to categorize these links into distinct categories, blog, video, image and audio. Usage limits are set at 100 requests per hour. Tweetmeme supports XML, JSON and PHP data formats and conforms to REST design principles.

Twinfluence API: A Twitter API to to measure the combined influence of twitterers and their followers, with a few social network statistics (reach, velocity, and social capital) included. Documentation for a simple XML API interface for accessing twinfluence.com data is available.