Yes, Google Instant is a time-saver. But does this new innovation in search (the first we’ve had in ages) really lead to smarter search results as Google claims, or does it tell us what we already know, just more quickly? We took it through its paces in multiple locations. Here’s what we found.

Social media users are getting older. According to the latest research by Flowtown, the average social media participant is 37-years-old, and the fastest growing demographic is 50-plus. But don’t worry about mom third-wheeling your Facebook page. She is feeling right at home with her favorite social brands.

It could be just what couch potatoes everywhere have been waiting for – YouTube (as well as much of the rest of the Web) is coming to your TV, Google CEO Eric Schmidt announced yesterday. Before you ready your Microsoft WebTV cracks, consider this: Americans alone view over 13 billion videos a month on YouTube. That’s a lot of eyeballs.

The Coca-Cola Happiness Machines are multiplying, even in a place where there’s little mirth today: London. That’s right, Coke has taken its viral YouTube video sensation to the other side of the pond, setting up its wondrous vending machine to a university campus in London with some predictably sweet results.

Nike released a new iPhone app yesterday to act as a personal coach for runners. As well as functions such as a GPS map with pace speedometer and inspirational Lance Armstrong audio quotes, the Nike+ GPS will allow runners to connect and compete with their friends for better runs in a network called “Challenge Me”. But is Nike’s entry into this marketplace too late?

We now know a bit more what it costs to fight a full-blown online reputation crisis, courtesy of the latest leak around BP. Advertising Age today reports that BP cranked up its online ad spend with Google at the height of the crisis in June as it scrambled to get its spin on the story out there above its critics and to preserve what was left of its tattered reputation.

We always like those stories where a small, regional brand makes a big global impression thanks to its smart use of social media. Here’s one which had us raising a glass.

Twitter has released the details of its users’ connection habits, and it turns out mobile Twitter is the new driver of user growth. Mobile access of Twitter increased by 60% since April, and the general user base has increased 40% in the same period to 145 million members. Who’s tweeting from their mobiles? Business executives on their Blackberries and tech geeks on their iPhones. Quick question though: Is Android missing the party? Here’s the breakdown of how people are accessing Twitter.

YouTube may finally have found a way to make a profit. No, this isn’t a scheme to make us pay for cute kitten videos. The secret formula to a profitable YouTube may lie in a subtle advertising deal between the video host and big-name studio producers.

In what is being hailed a victory for the world’s rainforests, Burger King has dropped Indonesian palm oil producer Sinar Mas from its list of suppliers, the third major brand to cave to a Greenpeace pressure campaign that’s been stalking the corporate pages of Facebook over the past six months.