Google has updated its Google Goggles visual search application with a feature that allows users to suggest their own results if the subject of a photo can't be identified.

The app, which searches the web to identify pictures taken using the phone's camera, can provide results for a variety of queries - from artwork to business cards.

Millward Brown Optimor, part of the WPP group, has just published the 2011 edition of its BrandZ report. It's the sixth annual edition of the report, which details the world's "Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands".

It notes that the world’s best brands appear to have recovered from the recession at a faster rate than their competitors. The combined value of the Top 100 brands this year is calculated at $2.4 trillion, more than Great Britain's GDP.

Google has augmented its Google Talk instant messaging app to include video and voice chat for Android phones.

The new service enables consumers to make video calls over 3G or WiFi between phones or from a phone to a PC. Text chat from the person you're talking to will appear in front of the video on your phone's screen.

The British Retail Consortium and Google have launched a joint 'Online Retail Monitor' to provide insights into online shopping trends.

It reveals that the total volume of online retail-related searches in the UK grew by 29% in the first quarter of 2011 compared with the same quarter a year earlier. However, mobile retail search traffic rose by 181% over the same period. Overall, 11% of total retail searches in the first quarter of 2011 were made on a mobile device.

Google has announced financial results for the first three months of this year.

Revenue was up 27% on the same quarter in 2010, reaching $8.58 billion.