Free Google Taxis

Technology giant Google has patented a way of linking online ads to free or discounted taxi rides to the advertising restaurant, shop or entertainment venue.

The transport-linked ad service could encourage consumers to respond more often to location-based special offers, experts say.

Algorithms would work out the customer's location, the best route and form of transport, Google says.

Analysts have welcomed the idea.

Gregory Roekens, chief technology officer at advertising company AMV BBDO, told the BBC: "This is trying to turn advertising into a utility and remove barriers for consumers. It's a really interesting idea."

Location-based

Advertisers will mine huge databases recording people's habits, likes and preferences so that ads can be highly targeted.

Combining this information with location data gleaned from wi-fi, cellular and GPS tracking will enable businesses to tailor their ads and special offers according to where people are, the time of day and their schedules.

The addition of free or cheap travel to the location will be the icing on the cake, Google hopes.

In August, Google's venture capital arm invested $258m in Uber, the San Francisco-based car hire network.

Mr Roekens believes Google is envisaging customers making use of such services when responding to mobile ads in future.

And given the company's major investment in autonomous vehicle technology, the prospect of customers being ferried automatically to nearby business venues after responding to location-based ads on their smartphones does not seem too fanciful.

See more at BBC

On Facebook, clicking 'like' can help scammers

It's an image that tugs at the heartstrings. A smiling 7-year-old girl poses in her cheer leading uniform, circled by a ring of pompous, her bald head a tell tale sign of her chemotherapy treatments.

The photo hit Facebook last year and popped up all over with messages of support. "Like" to show this little girl you care. "Share" to tell her she's beautiful. Pray for her to beat cancer.

But here's the truth. The photo was nearly six years old. And neither the girl, nor her parents -- who never posted it to Facebook -- had any idea it was being used that way.

Welcome to the world of Facebook "like farming."

Those waves of saccharin-sweet posts that sometimes fill your news feed may seem harmless. But all too often, they're being used for nefarious purposes. At best, a complete stranger may be using the photos to stroke their own ego. At worst, experts say, scammers and spammers are using Facebook, often against the site's rules, to make some easy cash.

And they're wiling to play on the good intentions of Facebook users to do it.

"The average user doesn't know any better," said Tim Senft, founder of Facecrooks.com, a website that monitors scams and other illegal or unethical behaviour on Facebook. "I think their common sense tells them it's not true, but in the back of their minds, they think 'What if it is true? What does it hurt if I press like?' or whatever."

more @ cnn.com