You wouldn't think so by absent-mindedly flicking through the pages of a magazine or newspaper, or if you scrutinised advertisements on street poster sites or on public transport. However, some experts believe that the codes, which have been warmly embraced by smartphone users over the last couple of years, could have overstayed their welcome thanks to the rapid growth of image recognition technology (see previous blog on Google Goggles).

Social media channels are great for tracking down former school mates that you've lost touch with and they're great at helping you to keep up-to-date with what your friends have been up to but what about as a marketing tool for a business?

Is it really worth the time and effort involved in setting up – and then updating on a regular basis – a dedicated presence on sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn?

Until relatively recently social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn were seen as great networking tools but few had worked out how to make money from them (including the site owners themselves). However, that changed recently with the launch of Facebook deals (and LinkedIn's impressive flotation on the US stock exchange).