In a Monday announcement, Google said that for all those businesses that generate the maximum number of Internet searches, the company will send them their own specific bar-coded Google sticker.

As many as 100,000 of these bar-coded decals will be sent to businesses in over 9,000 towns and cities across the US, thereby labeling the maximum traffic-generating businesses as "Favorite Places on Google."

Though Google has not made any official disclosure of the number of hits a business requires to qualify for the new designation, the company has said that the 'favorites' would be based on search results from users who interact with local business listings on Google Maps.

Google said that in addition to the fact that decals will help users to identify the businesses that generate notable Internet traffic; the bar codes on the decals would give smartphone an instant accessibility for assessing a particular business or finding coupons for sales.

Further noting that scanning would necessitate a phone with a camera and a specific application for reading the bar codes, Google has suggested that the Android-based phones can use the Barcode Scanner application; while the iPhone users can use the QuickMark app.

For businesses that are not in the opening "wave" of decals, Google has suggested that they should claim their listing with Google's Local Business Center "for free."