Twitter Search Rules and Restrictions

Twitter search helps you find people and interesting information on Twitter. This article details the rules for participating in Twitter search, as well as reasons content may not show in Twitter search.

• Looking for basic information on Twitter search?  You can learn more about searching by keyword, location, and trending topics on our Search help page.
• Having trouble? Our Search problems section may help you troubleshoot your issue.

Filters keep search relevant

• In order to keep your search results relevant, Twitter filters search results for quality.
• Material that jeopardizes search quality or creates a bad search experience for other users may be automatically removed from Twitter Search.

Twitter Search DONT's

The Twitter Rules explain what behaviors are permitted on Twitter. In addition to these rules, we've included some tips below to keep your content relevant (and your tweets in Twitter search). We caution against aggressive behaviors and suggest that you stay away from:

• Repeatedly posting duplicate or near-duplicate content (links or tweets)
• Abusing trending topics or hashtags (topic words with a # sign)
• Sending automated tweets or replies
• Using bots or applications to post similar messages based on keywords
• Posting similar messages over multiple accounts
• Aggressively following and un-following people

Twitter may automatically remove accounts engaging in these behaviors from search (or even suspend in some cases) in order to ensure the best experience for everyone.

Search and Third-Party Applications

• Accounts may be filtered from search for posting similar messages over several accounts.
• If you have allowed a third-party application access to your account by giving out your username and password, and this application is updating to lots of accounts with similar or duplicate content, your account may be filtered from search.

Search and Entering Contests

Businesses sometimes host contests and offer prizes for retweeting an update, following a particular user, or posting updates with a specific hashtag topic or @reply.

• If you repeatedly post near-duplicate updates or duplicate links in order to enter contests, you may be filtered from search. 
• Please keep in mind that you are responsible for the updates that you post to your Twitter account.
• Note: If you’re running a contest, check out this page on Twitter's Best Practices for Contests.

What do I do if I'm missing from Search?

• Please see our Missing from Twitter Search help page for more information, as Twitter may be facing a known issue that is causing your search problems.
• If you are filtered from search, rest assured that your followers will still receive your updates, and if you post an @reply to a specific user, these will be delivered to that user.
• If you are practicing the recommendations above, your account should eventually show in search. (If you are a new user, this can sometimes take several days.)

Still Need Help? Contact Support.