local.com

Webware Radar: Trulia finds people still want 'American Dream'

Real estate search site Trulia released a survey Thursday showing that the "American Dream" of owning a home is still alive even as the recession continues to plague the world. According to the company, more than 75 percent of Americans still consider owning a home as part of achieving their personal dreams, but only 5 percent of respondents say they believe that President Obama's plan to increase home ownership incentives will do any good "to restore faith in the American Dream of home ownership." In fact, 53 percent of those surveyed believe that creating jobs … Read more

Daily Tidbits: TomTom takes aim at Google Maps

GPS vendor TomTom announced Thursday that it has launched an online mapping solution to compete with MapQuest and Google Maps. Dubbed TomTom Route Planner, the free service provides door-to-door route planning options to any address in the U.S. or Canada.

Using TomTom's MapShare technology, the service provides users with continued map improvements made by TomTom users that see flaws and correct them. According to the company, improvements are uploaded regularly to provide up-to-date driving conditions. TomTom's IQ Routes feature will offer more accurate arrival estimates by accessing average speeds for each road instead of employing posted speed … Read more

Local.com taps geo-targeted video ads

Local.com, a search site that helps people find places in and information about their community, said Thursday it will start integrating local video ads throughout the company's site in an attempt to increase ad relevance and revenue.

According to the company, it has inked a deal with Jivox, an online video advertising company catering to local businesses, to use its geo-targeted ads for now. Local.com hopes to sell its own local video ad units through its own list of advertisers at some point in the future.

"We believe that video advertising provides consumers with relevant, timely … Read more