It is a Facebook face-off of sorts, as Google Social Search gets more social.  Keyword searches will note your friends’ activity related to that search term from popular sites Flickr, Quora, Twitter and YouTube.  Conspicuously absent are posts from Facebook in the search.  The two companies are rivals and Facebook has chosen to align itself with Microsoft’s Bing search engine instead of Google.  As a counter, perhaps, Facebook announced plans to improve its own search functions while Greplin — the “search market for your life” — came out of beta this week looking to bridge the gaps between Google and Facebook.  Do you think there is room for another search engine?

As more small businesses embrace social media— usage is up 40 percent among this group— there is a constant stream of tips and best practices.  A few of my favorite this week reminded marketing departments to have patience (results are not going to happen overnight) and to reciprocate (i.e. do unto others as you would want them to do unto you: if you want someone to talk about you on these channels, talk about them!).

Did you rally behind one of America’s favorite snacks — Oreo cookies — last week as it attempted, and succeeded, in qualifying for the Guinness Book of World Records? The Kraft brand set the record for most “likes” on a Facebook post within a 24-hour period, a feat that was soon passed by rapper Lil Wayne. Regardless, Oreo interacted with and motivated its loyal customers!

Speaking of delicious eats … If you are one to enjoy your fruits and vegetables straight from the farm, look into Wholeshare, a new group-buying site which “lets users pool their orders to purchase from farmers that only sell in bulk.”  Another great Mashable find!

If you have children in your life or if you are a child at heart, the Toy Fair, which wrapped up last week, introduced the newest generation of toys (100,000 new products to be exact).  So what can you expect to play with?  Robots, farm toys and eco-friendly top the list of trends.  Play on!

And finally, who uses a cell phone to make phone calls anyway?  According to comScore, accessing social-networking sites was among the fastest-growing activities over the past year among mobile phone users.  This trend is sure to only amplify with the announcement the first-ever Facebook smart phone.

Have a great week.