← Back to Discover

Twitter search rules and restrictions

This article details the rules for using Twitter search, and explains reasons why content may not show up in Twitter search.

Why doesn't all content show up in Twitter search?

In order to keep your search results relevant, Twitter filters search results for quality Tweets and accounts. Material that jeopardizes search quality or creates a bad search experience for other users may be automatically removed from Twitter Search. Read more about this here.

General rules for using Twitter search:

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).

Please DO NOT:

Repeatedly post duplicate or near-duplicate content (links or Tweets).
Abuse trending topics or hashtags (topic words with a # sign).
Send automated Tweets or replies.
Use bots or applications to post similar messages based on keywords.
Post similar messages over multiple accounts.
Aggressively follow and un-follow 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 results filtering in third-party applications:

Accounts may be filtered from search for posting similar messages over several accounts. Your account may be filtered from search if you are logged into a third-party application that is updating to lots of accounts with similar or duplicate content.

Rules for participating in contests on Twitter:

Businesses sometimes host contests and offer prizes to retweet an update, following a particular user, or posting Tweets with a specific hashtag topic or @reply. If you’re running a contest, check out this page on Twitter's Best Practices for Contests.

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.

What to do if you are missing from Search:

Please see our Missing from Twitter Search help page for more information.

If you are being 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.

Having trouble?