The BBC and Guardian websites have been named as the most likely to appear in Google UK's news search rankings amongst all, according to a new study. Both sites edged out the Daily Mail which ranked a distant third in a survey of news results which were automatically returned by Google for certain keyword searches. Searchmetrics found that in addition to the media big beasts Google is now also devoting greater prominence to smaller sites, with a 15% uptick in the use of such sites during 2012.

Tech City News, which launched in January and reports on the technology sector in London, has announced a "transatlantic tech news alliance", partnering with Silicon Valley-based Venture Beat and Berlin's Venture Village. The partnership will involve the sharing of some content and enable international investigations.

The Sun has removed a story from its website claiming that Chris Huhne had been bullied whilst in prison following a complaint to the Press Complaints Commission. The complaint from the former energy minister's partner Carina Trimingham related to an article published on 13 March. It claimed that Huhne had been "ridiculed" by a prison officer who had called him to breakfast over the prison Tannoy system.

Given the grilling that Google has gotten this week in Parliament, you might think that Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman of the company, would be persona non grata in London these days. Not so, it appears. Schmidt is one of 16 high-level corporate executives who have been invited to meet with Prime Minister David Cameron next week. They are members of the Business Advisory Group, which regularly gathers at Cameron's office to bat around economic issues.

The Daily Beast was temporarily banned from Facebook after posting a news report containing a photograph of a painting due to come under auction at Christies in London. The artwork, which sold on Friday for $1.9 million (US) was painted in 1991, and is entitled "Bea Arthur Naked". Brian Ries, social media editor for The Daily Beast, said the journal was banned from Facebook while the social network investigated the potential violation of its terms.

One FT blog and multiple social media accounts were hacked into on Friday morning, a spokeswoman for the FT confirmed to Mashable. On the FT.com blogs page, the headlines of some recent posts read, "Tech blog: Hacked By Syrian Electronic Army," according to screenshots obtained by The Telegraph. The group also posted the message, "Syrian Electronic Army Was Here," to various FT Twitter accounts, including @FTMarkets and @thelexcolumn.

A new survey has revealed that supermarket giant Tesco was the best performing brand in Q1 2013 when it comes to customer care via social media. Research from Socialbakers, reported by thedrum.com, discovered Tesco representatives answered 65% of user questions in an average of 81 minutes.

The UK Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is set to question Google on its tax affairs in the country for the second time. Between 2006 and 2011, Google reportedly generated more than $18 billion in revenue from the UK sales, but paid just $16 million in taxes. In November last year, the PAC questioned Google UK chief executive Matt Brittin about the company's tax affairs.

Nick Burcher has joined MediaCom from ZenithOptimedia Worldwide, where he was head of social media and digital innovation. He has been tasked with driving social thought leadership, innovation and technology development to ensure that the agency has the most compelling and competitive capabilities in EMEA.

A news website has launched which has eight editors - but hopes to draw on the expertise of 10,000 specialist contributors. The Conversation is the brainchild of former Observer and Sunday Herald editor Andrew Jaspan and first launched in Australia two years ago. The site has journalists as editors but draws on the expertise of academics and researchers to write its specialist content.