AOL is unveiling When.com this morning. It’s a local events site powered by Zvents. When.com deemphasizes the AOL brand but will become part of the “AOL Local Network,” which includes MapQuest, AOL Cityguide, AOL Travel, etc. There will also be an When.com widget soon.

When.com uses IP targeting to determine default location, but offers personalization when users register.

Zvents content is also integrated into MSN Cityguides. Yahoo has Upcoming, its user-generated events site. Google Calendar allows publishers to add events and allows users to discover/search for them. It’s not clear to me at the moment how widely that’s used, however. Users, publishers and venues can also add listings to When.com.

What’s interesting about Zvents, among other things, is that the site is trying to define “events” broadly to include local retail sales and other non-traditional event occurrences.

There’s more discussion of When.com on my personal blog Screenwerk.

Related Topics: AOL: Local | AOL: MapQuest

About The Author: Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor at Search Engine Land. He writes a personal blog Screenwerk, about SoLoMo issues and connecting the dots between online and offline. He also posts at Internet2Go, which is focused on the mobile Internet. Follow him @gsterling. See more articles by Greg Sterling