A new real-time search feature has been launched by Twitter following several weeks of testing and development.

The service is accessible to Twitter members via their homepages and to other web users through search.twitter.com.

It takes the form of a search box under which the most tweeted words and phrases are displayed to give a picture of what Twitter users are talking about the most at a given time.

Biz Stone, co-founder of Twitter, said in a blog post that the real-time search facility offers "a compelling, if rudimentary way to explore a collective global consciousness".

Twitter members can use the feature to build a new timeline of updates centred on specific phrases and words to add to other updates from the users they are following, he added.

Regularly used search queries can be stored for easy access in the future.

Experts are speculating that the new addition could be Twitter's main money-making channel in the future.

Josh Lowensohn of CNET's Webware blog said that the results from these searches include space that could be used to display ads from third parties, as listings are integrated into the main Twitter page.