Google-Twitter search agreement delayed for DOJ antitrust review?

Microsoft publicly announced it has already launched a beta of bing Twitter that incorporates Twitter tweets into Microsoft's search results, while Google also announced an agreement with Twitter, but said in an announcement blog post that: "we look forward to having a product that showcases how tweets can make search better in the coming months."

The glaring question is why Google, which prides itself on speed and innovation, and which routinely launches new products and services in beta, will not offer a Twitter product for "months."

The most logical conclusion is what I blogged and tweeted about on October 9th: "Will Google seek DOJ approval of any Twitter agreement?"

• I suggest you read that full post for why Google is likely delaying its launch of its Google-Twitter search agreement for "months."
• I posit it is because Twitter may represent a rare game-changing platform competitor to Google, and the DOJ (which has already blocked two proposed Google agreeements with Yahoo and the authors/publishers in the last eleven months) will want to be sure that any Google-Twitter agreement does not have the practical effect of foreclosing Twitter disruptive competition to Google going forward.

Given that Microsoft has proceeded with launching its Twitter search agreement, and the Microsoft-Yahoo search agreement is currently under review at the DOJ, it is logical to conclude that the DOJ did not have a problem with #3 search competitor Microsoft entering into a search agreement with Twitter.

It will be interesting to see if anyone else comes up with another plausible explanation for why Microsoft is proceeding apace with Twitter, while Google is delaying implementation of its agreement for an indeterminate amount of time -- "months."