In the past I've heard many related questions. Can I use the @ sign in my domain name? I use the @ sign in my branding but why do the search engines don't seem to pick it up? With Twitter's increase in popularity and use of the @ character when addressing a Twitter user even more questions are bouncing around.
I experimented with this following yesterday's Indy 500 and entered a Google search for @danicapatrick (who finished a solid third), @h3lio (3rd time Indy 500 winner Helio Castronevez) and @TonyKanaan (current points leader who met the wall hard at 198mph suffering a DNF for the second straight year at The Brickyard).
The query produced the same results as a search for these drivers without the @ character, while WebMynd for FireFox produced a list of kudos and congrats from Indy Racing Fans across the Twittersphere. With the exception of Helio who uses the number 3 from his Team Penske Dallara/Honda in his Twitter name, the @ character was virtually ignored.
Google of course has their own answers to this in this short video.
Why is the @ character ignored in search queries?
