Google has purchased UK price comparison site for financial products BeatThatQuote.com for £37.7 million )$61.3 million(. News of the deal was confirmed by BeatThat.Quote.com managing director John Paleomylites on the company's website. "Our team is excited about becoming a part of Google. We look forward to working with their engineers to create new tools making it easier for consumers to choose the right financial products.

Skype said today that for the first time advertising will appear in the "Home" tab of Skype for Windows starting this week. The first advertisers on Skype include Groupon, Nokia, Universal Pictures and Visa. Skype said ads would initially appear in the U.S., U.K. And Germany. Skype "Home" features a sponsored masthead space of 650 x 170 pixels expandable to 650 x 340 pixels for advertisers to show ads that can include audio or video.

Drivers of electric cars can now access an app called PlugShare that shows a map of charging stations in their area. The PlugShare app was created by a Palo Alto-based start-up called Xatori which focuses on software for electric vehicles such as the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt. PlugShare is available for iPhone and iPod touch users for free via the iTunes App Store. Xatori also plans to release PlugShare for Android soon.

Verizon said today it is partnering with the nonprofit organization StopBadWare to help protect Internet users from security threats like spyware, viruses and other malware. During the next three years, the organizations will work together on issues ranging from educating small businesses about badware to developing approaches to help smartphone phone users protect their handsets. StopBadware has previously worked to develop transparency,

CBS said today it has acquired online television guide Clicker.com and named co-founder and CEO Jim Lanzone President of CBS Interactive. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. In his new role, Lanzone will manage all of CBS Interactive's operations globally. He replaces Neil Ashe, who was President of CBS Interactive since 2008 and announced in December he would leave the company when a successor was named. Before Clicker, Lanzone was the CEO of Ask.

Bing said today it is partnering with online travel site KAYAK for flight search results. Bing said the partnership with KAYAK will allow it to provide a more comprehensive travel search experience. In the coming weeks KAYAK will provide Bing with flight search results from multiple cities, airports and airlines. Going forward, Bing will have access to all of KAYAK's travel search services globally.

Community-driven search engine Blekko has introduced new publisher tools focused on link transparency and customized search via Blekkogear. One of the new tools is called Blekko Link Roll, an embeddable site widget that shows links to a site in real time. Blekko CEO Rich Skrenta tells WebProNews, "The links are pulled in with javascript, so Googlebot will not see them at all. There is no risk that Google would perceive the link widget as an attempt to sell page rank.

Twitter has introduced new features to its versions of apps for iPhone and iPad. Twitter said it is now easier to upload photos via a camera button in the tool bar, along with a better image preview. An autocomplete feature makes it faster to tweet on the go offering speed and accuracy. Other features of the update include: *Follow friends on Twitter via contacts on your phone. *View local trends based on location. *Automatically shortened links.

U.S. consumer spending on daily deal sites like Groupon and LivingSocial is on track to grow from $873 million in 2010 to $3.9 billion in 2015, representing a 35 percent growth rate, according to a new report from BIA/Kelsey. BIA/Kelsey indicates a number of variables will have an impact on the development of deal a day, such as growth in the number of cities/sites, registered users, transactions per year for the average user and the average price per transaction.

The NCAA said today along with its broadcast partners CBS Sports and Turner Sports, that it will make every March Madness basketball game available for free online as as well as on iPad, iPod touch and iPhone. Last year, the NCAA March Madness was available as a paid app for iPhone and iPod touch. Also available this year are free streams of the tournament outside of the U.S.

Using Facebook can have a positive influence on the self-esteem of college students, according to a new study from researchers at Cornell University. This is probably because Facebook allows them to put their best face forward, said Jeffrey Hancock, associate professor of communication at Cornell University and co-author of Mirror, Mirror on my Facebook Wall: Effects of Exposure to Facebook on Self-Esteem published in the journal Cyberpsychology,

Yahoo has introduced its Flickr app for Windows 7 and Windows Phone 7 devices. The Flickr Windows Phone 7 app is available in the Zune Marketplace and the Windows 7 tablet app can be downloaded from the Flickr website. Key features of the Flickr app include: *Swipe through panoramic blades to see recent activity, including uploads from contacts. *Optimized for hi-resolution display.

Amazon Web Services )AWS( said today it has launched data centers in Japan for its cloud computing platform. Japan is the fifth region where Amazon has introduced its cloud computing platform. Amazon said it is offering support in Japanese for any users who have a Japanese language preference. In addition, AWS plans to provide in the coming months the option for billing in Japanese Yen. Today,

Location-based service Loopt is introducing real-time mobile Reward Alerts app for iPhone, iPod Touch and Android phones. Reward Alerts allow brands and local businesses to offer limited-time deals to people nearby. Reward Alerts offer a flash deal that is redeemable in person, instead of a deal that is purchased now, but used at a later date. The first Reward Alerts go live in March for upcoming deals featured in the Loopt application. Users download the update, log in,

Google Ventures and Khosla Ventures have invested $42 million in a weather insurance start-up founded by former Google employees, called WeathrBill. WeatherBill's technology platform compiles large amounts of weather data from a variety of sources, then sells insurance based on statistical analysis. Google Ventures mission is to identify and fund big ideas and WeatherBills vision of helping farmers adapt to climate change aligns perfectly with that mission,

Facebook is on track to overtake Yahoo in display ad revenue this year, according to a new estimate from eMarketer. Facebook's display ad revenues will reach $2.19 billion this year, accounting for 21.6 percent of all U.S. display ad dollars. Yahoo's market share will reach 16.4 percent, while Google will account for 12.6 percent of display ad spending. Yahoo!s US display ad revenues will increase by double digits each year from 2010 through 2012. Despite that,

Bing surpassed Yahoo in search for the first time worldwide in January and increased its lead in February, according to a new report from StatCounter. The report found that globally Bing reached 4.37 percent in February ahead of Yahoo at 3.93 percent. Google continues to lead globally with 89.94 percent of the search engine market. In the United States Yahoo )9.74%( still has its lead over Bing at 9.03 percent. Googles share in the US is 79.63%.

AT&T has partnered with location-based mobile marketing platform Placecast to provide users with ShopAlerts, special offers sent to their mobile phones when they are near a store or brand. The location-based mobile messaging service will be available for AT&T customers in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Francisco who have opted-in to receive messages. The ShopAlerts will provide users with offers, rewards, and coupons based on their specific geographic location.

Nearly 20 percent )18%( of U.S. Internet users have gone online to find others with similar health issues, according to a new report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project. The number increases to 23 percent among Internet users who are living with a chronic disease. Still, people overwhelmingly report that health professionals are central for healthcare information. When asked about the last time they had a health issue: *70% of adults in the U.S.

AT&T said people will be able to test the Kindle in its 2,200 U.S. stores before making a purchase. The Kindle is also available at Staples, Best Buy and Target. "Amazon has without question pioneered the eReader space with Kindle, and it's exciting to not only connect this device through our network, but now offer it in our stores to readers around the country," said Glenn Lurie, president, emerging devices, AT&T. "As the first dedicated eReader offered in our stores,