In a statement, Armstrong said that while there's a lot of information about local events and news on the Web, there's no quick and easy way for people to find it. AOL thinks it can build on its MapQuest service to offer local information services that will appeal to its users.

AOL is not alone in trying to cater to users' local needs. Search engines like Google and Microsoft's Bing have tweaked their offerings to display local results when appropriate.

Armstrong, a former Google executive who took over as AOL CEO in March, has been charged with growing the company's online advertising revenue, something AOL failed to do over the past few years at it transitioned away from a business model that was built primarily on providing dial-up Internet access. Earlier this year AOL owner Time Warner said it plans to spin off the unit.