Companies compete to offer retail fuel price information

Gasoline prices are up – and so is the value of gasoline price information. Given that fact, two companies, Tinbu and TomTom, aim to make money by offering drivers up-to-date information on prices at gas stations. Both companies announced the launch of their services in the first week of the New Year.

Tinbu, Pensacola, Fla., a provider of multilingual interactive data for Web and wireless use, is marketing its service to operators of Web sites that want to add such pricing information to their sites (Tinbu said its customers currently include AOL, and a number of newspaper Web sites, such as USA Today).

Tinbu announced Jan. 3 that it plans to launch the interactive fuel pricing module using its own patent-pending technology. The module will allow visitors to media Web sites to get real-time updated gas pricing information from over 130,000 gas stations across the U.S., according to the company. Tinbu said it will be making the fuel pricing module available to online media partners in both English and Spanish by the end of January.

Tinbu said its technology allows for seamless integration of interactive data modules into Web sites, driving page views, user satisfaction, and revenue generation for Web site operators.

John Brier, Tinbu's CEO, said in a press release, "In today's world the price of fuel is very important to most people, and the ability to track local fuel prices on a station by station basis, plan fuel stops on road trips, and compare fuel prices on a station by station basis is good for consumers. We are confident our multilingual fuel pricing module will be widely embraced by online media groups and individual consumers alike."

The interactive fuel pricing module will allow consumers to search by state, city, or zip code to find the lowest priced fuel in their area, according to the company. It will also allow people to plan longer trips, and arrange to purchase fuel at the lowest priced highway exit fuel stations along the way. Historical pricing trends on fuel will also be available, as will quick-look updates on the highest and lowest prices on a city by city basis, as well as average fuel pricing information on a local, regional, and national level. National averages and pricing information will be integrated into a U.S. map allowing for rapid state by state pricing comparison. This new interactive gas pricing module will also allow consumers to customize pricing alerts, get fuel saving tips, and notify friends and family of the highest and lowest fuel prices in their area automatically. Consumers will also be able to utilize a built in mapping feature that will give them directions to stations in their locality that offer the best prices.

TomTom unveiled TomTom Fuel Prices, a service designed to find the lowest gas prices, on Jan. 7. The company said the service will be available for TomTom 920
and 920T users in the U.S. starting in the first quarter of 2008.

The service sends real-time pricing updates for U.S. service and gas stations directly to the TomTom 920 or 920T over-the-air (over-the-air updates are accessible via a compatible Bluetooth phone and a wireless data plan), according to a company announcement.

Subscribers can also receive real-time prices through TomTom HOME, the industry's first software for personal computers that gives access to an increasing range of content and services, allows customers to further personalize their navigation devices, the company said.

From their device, users can select whether to list gas stations by location or price, and can request the lowest gas prices on their route, nearby or within a user-selected mile radius, the company said.

Travelers can also choose which type of gas they would like tracked: regular, mid-grade, premium or diesel. Updated gas prices for that specific type of fuel will be downloaded automatically over-the-air through a Bluetooth phone or when connected to TomTom HOME on a PC or Mac.

TomTom receives its fuel data from OPIS, via INRIX Inc., a provider of traffic information. These companies receive daily feeds through credit card transactions and directly from gas station owners at nearly 120,000 locations.

TomTom's Fuel Prices service will be available through TomTom HOME for $14.95 per year for TomTom GO 920 and GO 920T users, the company said.