Google is offering a $25 incentive for users who don’t mind having their browsing habits tracked over the course of a year.

The search giant launched the controversial opt-in scheme, named the “Screenwise Project”, on a low-key page spotted by Search Engine Land late Tuesday.

Users willing to sign up to the program will receive a $5 Amazon gift card every three months, up to a maximum of $25, for installing a Chrome extension which will do the tracking, reports InfoWorld.com. It should be noted that Amazon aren’t a direct partner in the promotion, as the service will be managed by online research firm Knowledge Networks.

Participants must be aged 13 or over to take part, and minors must have parental consent to participate, Google said.

The timing of the project is unusual, but possibly not unexpected. Within the last month Google stated its intentions to make dramatic changes to its privacy policy, which would see all of its services unified under a single policy. Theoretically this means that it can already track user activity across Google services like YouTube and search.

However, the company claims that Screenwise will enhance the Google experience further, by providing even more detail about user habits. No doubt this information will later be used to think of new ways that help monetise search marketing services on Google’s platforms.

“As a panelist, you’ll add a browser extension that will share with Google the sites you visit and how you use them,” Google’s landing page read, according to PC Pro.

“What we learn from you, and others like you, will help us improve Google products and services and make a better online experience for everyone.”

A new survey has revealed that most British small businesses are now using social media, Fresh Business Thinking reports, but opened up the debate on the need for dot.com websites.

Online freelance employment agency, PeoplePerHour.com, found that 91 per cent of 1,300 companies were using social media “for business purposes”, a figure that represents a 60 per cent increase on last year.

This demonstrates that businesses have finally realised the value of Facebook marketing, LinkedIn for recruitment opportunities and Twitter for customer engagement. Facebook topped the poll of most popular site.

PeoplePerHour’s founder and CEO, Xenios Thrasyvoulou emphasised that Facebook is far more than “just a social network” and that it has now become crucial for businesses and the wider economy. A recent study by Deloitte found that Facebook indirectly contributes £2 billion annually to the UK.

However the news has left some commentators left wondering whether social media could replace traditional websites all together, a point mulled over by Computer World UK. According to a study, the site says, nine per cent of small businesses “plan to eliminate their traditional website due to social media”.

The feasibility of Facebook as a stand alone online presence has mixed reactions. Some believe that small businesses don’t need a dot com website, that Facebook – free, easy and quick – is sufficient.

Whereas others, including Ability Commerce CEO, Diane Buzzeo, highlight that consumers do not receive a “true ecommerce experience”. Additionally, a profile is at the mercy of the Facebook platform and can be changed with little notice.

Facebook itself, apparently, believes that integration is the way forward – finding ways to use the business website alongside the Facebook profile, or finding someone who can – “for maximum reach and exposure”.

An Italian professor who was the inspiration for Google has launched his own search engine called Volunia, searchengineland.com reports.

Massimo Marchiori devised an algorithm in the early 90s for HyperSearch that paved the way for modern search engines including Google and Bing. Google even cited Marchiori’s influence when introducing its page rank feature, now a central plank of Google’s algorithm.

In the years that followed, Marchiori turned down a great many invites to work on other search engines, though has now returned with his own creation, Volunia.

Explaining his creation, Marchiori took to Google-owned YouTube, explaining how he sought to create something new as opposed to an evolution of the other search engines currently challenging Google’s market share.

“Volunia is not just a classic search engine, not Google or [an] other web search engine plus ten per cent,” wsj.com cites Marchiori as saying.

“It’s a new radical view of what the search engine of the future could be. An ambitious project localised in 12 languages, covering all the contents of the world.”

Amongst the differences Volunia offers users are higher-level site previews than its competitors, a multimedia search-within-a-site function and a “social lawyer”, which promotes social networking and sharing amongst users.

Whether Volunia lives up to Marchiori’s pedigree is yet to be seen, however, with Google being the first choice for many web users and businesses using search marketing. Whilst Volunia’s results are yet to be seen, many commentators have suggested that it would take something extra special to topple Google, with the search engine having escalated too far beyond its peers to make competition viable.

Search engines have proven to be more popular than ever, registering 2.3 billion visits in January alone, ibtimes.co.uk reports.

New research by Experian Hitwise found that over January, search engines were visited 2.3 billion times, a 100 million rise on the figures for the same period in 2011.

Where market share was concerned, Google remained firmly on top, despite losing share on a month-by-month basis.

Of the billions that used search engines in January, 90.64 per cent logged on to Google. This represented a 1.11 per cent decline on the figure for December but an annual rise of 0.27 per cent.

Second place was taken by Microsoft with a 4.16 per cent market share, whilst Yahoo! (2.98 per cent), Ask (1.8 per cent) and “others” (0.43 per cent) completed the top five.

The announcement is good news for the many businesses using search marketing, with news that the engines are more popular than they ever have been.

Speaking to thedrum.co.uk of the results, market research analyst at Experian Hitwise James Murray explained: “Search is one of the most crucial elements of online marketing and our data shows that search is growing, with nearly 100 million more visits going to search engines this January than last January.

“As search continues to grow, marketers need the right tools at their fingertips to understand how they can maximise their search campaigns to get traffic delivered to their website.”

The Greenpeace Cool IT Leaderboard has been announced, with search engine giant Google named number one in the rankings.

Gary Cook, Greenpeace International IT analyst, told Business Green that the search engine achieved this position thanks to heavy investment in renewable energy projects and “putting its money where its mouth is”.

Google’s domination of online search means its actions are studied keenly by search engine optimisation marketers, but Mr Cook suggested the company’s adoption of sustainable power could have a wider effect on how the world produces - as well as uses - its energy.

He said: “The IT industry must use its influence, innovative spirit and technological know-how to overcome the dirty energy companies who are holding on to the status quo, and holding us back from a transition to a renewable energy economy.”

Cisco finished second in the Cool IT Leaderboard rankings, while Ericsson and Fujitsu share third position. Apple was not even included in the 21-brand list because Greenpeace felt the manufacturer has not put sufficient effort into energy solutions, in spite of its healthy balance sheet.

GreenBiz.com managing editor Matthew Wheeland pointed out that Facebook is another well-known name missing from the list. However, he explained that the social network was not included because its energy efficiency drive in December 2011 happened too late to affect this round of the index.

Holidaymakers are increasingly turning to search engines to conduct their holiday research and bookings, new research shows.

According to poll of 5,000 people by TravelSupermarket, half of Britons now research their summer holidays online (52 per cent), reports Breaking Travel News.

Not only this, but they’re also more likely to book their holidays over the internet too. Rather than visit a travel agent, of which only one in nine do, 66 per cent of Brits will book their holidays through online travel agent, tour operator or price comparison site this year.

The research suggests that there is a fantastic opportunity for holiday firms to have their packages viewed online, providing they have enough visibility on search engines.

With travel and tourism being such a competitive environment, it’s likely that only those employing the very latest search marketing tools have any chance of having their deals seen by customers.

Commenting on Travel Mole, Bob Atkinson, travel expert from TravelSupermarket says he expects the trend to continue.

“The switch to online for our holiday planning – whether to research or book – has been one of the most noticeable changes in travel over the last few years and appears to be continuing. The internet makes researching our holiday so much easier,” he said.

“Review sites are growing in popularity as holidaymakers trust the opinion of their peers, plus as Brits get savvier about finding the best price on their holidays they are using the internet to compare prices to get the best deal.”

In a hotly anticipated rematch between the New York Giants and New England Patriots in this year’s Superbowl, search engine giant Google has revealed the top trending search during the game was, in fact, Madonna.

Search Engine Watch cites the top five searched terms revealed by Google: Madonna, Halftime show, Patriots, Tom Brady and Giants. Unfortunately, Giants quarterback Eli Manning didn’t quite make the top five, however winning the match 21 – 17 probably more than made up for it.

The official Google Blog highlights the vast number of channels used to watch the game, including live streaming for the first time: “As the Giants and Patriots battled it out on the field, US viewers multi-tasked, watching the game on television and also going online more than ever before, turning to their smartphones and tablets to look up players, half-time show performers and their favourite Super Bowl commercials.”

According to Google, searches peaked at kick-off, and were made predominantly on desktop, then mobile phones and tablets, which may interest those search engine marketing.

Furthermore, Super Bowl adverts were watched more than 30 million times on YouTube – and that’s before the game even kicked off.

While Madonna took the top spot for searches, other celebrities like LMFAO, Kelly Clarkson and Nicki Minaj also interested viewers – all of whom were singing or performing during the event.

Facebook advertising is to appear on handheld devices ahead of the company’s Initial Public Offering (IPO) in the coming weeks.

The Financial Times reports that the social networking behemoth is in active discussions with advertising agencies trying to figure out how to how best to display “featured stories” – namely, ads – in a user’s device as part of their everyday browsing experience.

However the changes, which are tipped for March, ahead of the company’s expected IPO in May, could be a headache for users who don’t want their social activity interrupted by ads.

Social media commentators argue that Facebook needs to tap into the lucrative handheld market in order to persuade – and later satisfy – would-be public investors, who are keen to see how Facebook can monetise its mobile platform.

According to the Economic Times India, more than half of Facebook’s 845 million users log into the social network via a mobile device. Yet, the company recently admitted that it hasn’t found a viable way of making money from this kind of access yet.

In its IPO filing, the company said as part of a future risk assessment: “We do not currently directly generate any meaningful revenue from the use of Facebook mobile products, and our ability to do so successfully is unproven.”

Some experts, like Ian Maude, head of internet at digital research-base Enders Analysis, came to expect that mobile advertising would happen, partly due to the ubiquity of smartphones today.

“More and more people are getting smartphones and spending more time accessing the internet via mobile devices,” he explained. “That is going to be a big part of Facebook’s usage in the future. They’ve got to figure out a clever way of monetising it.”

Excited Superbowl XLVI viewers took to Twitter during the final three minutes of the game to fire off a record 10,000 tweets per second, reports AFP.

Smashing the previous record (9,000 per second) held by pop star Beyonce’s pregnancy announcement at the MTV Video Music Awards last August, the match between New York Giants and New England Patriots saw Twitter users comment in their droves – 600,000 tweets in a minute and 1.8 million tweets over the three minute span, claims Slash Gear.

This just goes to show the popularity of microblogging service Twitter and just how much social media content is uploaded and shared by its users.

Pop queen Madonna’s half-time show also racked up a staggering amount of tweets per second, equating to around 8,000. Normally this would be quite an achievement but it seems to pale compared to the tremendous record attained by the hotly-anticipated match-up between the two previous Superbowl finalists.

Interestingly, Digital Spy cites research that indicates Twitter users had mixed feelings over the Material Girl’s performance. Common words include “amazing”, “great”, “good”, “best”, “bad”, “hating”, “seriously”, “old” and “retire”.

As an increasing number of users sign up to the service, it is only a matter of time before Superbowl’s XLVI tweet record is broken. The trick comes in predicting which event will topple the record.

A list of rules to Tweet by has been released, following reports that many users find what they read on the social network uninteresting.

Research published jointly by Carnegie Mellon University, MIT and the Georgia Institute of Technology found that users find just 36 per cent of Tweets they read useful.

During the study, researchers asked 1,443 users to rate the 43,738 tweets they received from the 21,104 accounts they followed. The results showed that 36 per cent where deemed useful. 25 per cent of tweets were actively disliked, whilst 39 per cent evoked apathy.

In considering the tweets that were liked, a list of hints has been given for those using Twitter for social media marketing to follow as a way of making sure their content is liked and shared, metro.co.uk reports.

Users are urged to be concise, not fill tweets with too many @ mentions or hashtags, keep it short and snappy, only post new content, contribute as well as comment, give reasons to click on links and only give away just enough information to encourage users to click through.

Speaking of what Twitter users should consider when posting content, lead author of the study Paul Andre told technewsdaily.com: “If we understood what is worth reading and why, we might design better tools for presenting and filtering content, as well as help people understand the expectations of other users.”