Business

Developers, rejoice -- the U.S. home construction industry is experiencing a positive rebound. The data for July has just come in, and the government is reporting that the month saw an eight-month high. Construction increased 16%, equating to a little over one million homes, when adjusted for seasonal inflation. Experts had predicted a less dramatic upswing for July. The better than expected performance can be a good indicator that the economy as a whole is rebounding, and that the housing construction industry itself is experiencing more long-term gains. Economists always hope to find that the housing market is growing stronger, because new-home construction has a positive impact on the national economy. Building spurs demand for raw goods and creates jobs, while new home buyers help o...

If you hate pop-up ads with a burning passion, you're far from alone. In fact, Ethan Zuckerman, the man who created the pop-up ad while working for hosting site Tripod.com in the mid-1990s, hates them just as much as everyone else. And in a recent article he wrote for The Atlantic, he blatantly apologizes for creating this internet nightmare at all. According to Zuckerman, Tripod.com struggled for a while as it tried to create marketed content in a way that would reach consumers and result in a share of the revenue. Companies began complaining that their banner ads, which are placed directly on a webpage, could make it seem as though the company supported that particular page's content. After years of experimenting with different platforms, Tripod.com eventually settled on a model where...

Although the economy has been steadily improving over the past few years, the small business lending industry has been slow to catch-up -- and many small business owners are feeling the lag. In Carrollton, Georgia, Brandi Shirey is hoping to expand her cake shop business, which she started up four years ago. Since then, the demand has grown to a point where the shop can't keep up. She hopes to borrow $20,000 in order to move to a new, larger storefront. Shirey, though, knows that even with her store's positive financial history, she'll need a bulletbroof credit record and paperwork in order to receive a bank loan. Things "aren't what they used to be," said Shirey in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. Although banks have been loosening their grip on tight restrictions year by ...

A few of the world's leading healthcare providers, including Mount Sinai, the Cleveland Clinic, and Johns Hopkins, are reported to be in talks with Apple regarding the use of the tech giant's new Healthkit mobile application. According to reports, Healthkit would be used to collect and store healthcare data and information at their facilities. The talks are in the very early stages and may not even amount to anything substantial, yet they highlight Apple's determination to break into the booming health tech industry by creating this app. Healthkit may just be become the go-to app for consolidating important patient health data and vitals, such as blood pressure, pulse, and weight, making it easier for consumers and healthcare providers to view. Apple's Health app is schedule to debut...

On Tuesday, Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell filed a potentially precedent-setting lawsuit: He's accusing major auto-insurance provider State Farm of forcing car repair shops to install unsafe replacement parts, endangering drivers across America.The lawsuit was filed in Baton Rouge's 19th Judicial district and is currently being reviewed by State Farm. In a press conference, Caldwell said, "State Farm has created a culture of unsafe business practices in which consumer vehicle repairs are performed with cost savings as the primary goal, rather than safety and reliability."Caldwell is focusing specifically on the use of after-market and junkyard parts for car repairs. These parts are cheaper to buy and install, but they may also be damaged or ill-fitting. Cheap parts often lack su...

California's State Assembly is currently considering passing a bill that would make dramatic alterations to the state's franchising law.According to an August 12 MSNBC article, Senate Bill 610 (SB 610) would make it much more difficult for franchising corporationsto end licensing agreements with their franchisees.The bill has already been approved in the California State Senate, MSNBC reports, and the State Assembly now has to determine whether or not the state's current franchising law is able to competently protect franchisees from the "arbitrary whims" of large corporations like McDonald's. Another clause of SB 610 would make it so franchise licensing agreements won't be able to prevent franchisees from being a part of franchisee associations or selling the franchises if they chose, ...

Native advertising and print advertising have collided thanks to a quiz from People's StyleWatch. By using the quiz to generate traffic online, advertisers were able to receive more exposure -- and StyleWatch was able to fund its biggest September issue yet.The Stylewatch quiz was similar to a sponsored Buzzfeed.com quiz, using just eight questions to match users to their "celebrity style twin." Unlike a Buzzfeed quiz, however, StyleWatch readers could click on embedded links to purchase the 600 clothing items, accessories and beauty products featured in the quiz. Of the fashion items shown in the quiz, around 25% of them made it into the September issue. The issue will contain 203 pages of advertising, a 6.6% increase from last year, according to Media Industry Newsletter's editor-in-c...

Amazon's already burst into the media selling, publishing and smartphone markets, and now it's looking to expand it's empire into mobile point-of-sale solutions. Though it'll go up against many POS providers jostling for dominance, it's generous pricing model for first-time users may give it an advantage.On Wednesday, Amazon released a mobile card reader called Amazon Local Register, which will compete with similar devices from companies like Paypal, ROAM and Square. Like the other products, the device works in tandem with apps for Google Android and Apple iOS, as well as the FireOS on the new Amazon Fire. Merchants running Amazon Local Register can access the funds from transactions within one business day, though they'll be able to spend them within only a few minutes on Amazon.com. ...

Many companies are looking into new technologies to make bill payment at restaurants waiter-free through the use of smartphone apps and mobile payment systems that connect to restaurant POS systems.Capitalizing on this trend are PayPal's 'Pay at Table' service and it's partner MyCheck in Tel Aviv as well as start-ups like Dash, Tabbedout and Cover in the US and Flypay in the UK. Now, Ukranian start-up Settle is looking to throw it's hat in the ring.Settle recently got a $1.5 million funding injection from a venture fund called Life based in Moscow. The funds will be used to roll out the new technology in Eastern Europe, starting in Kiev and followed by large releases in Moscow and Warsaw. Settle will provide customers at restaurants with a mobile payment service that allows you to order...

If you haven't checked out your homeowner's policy within the last six months, you may be in for a less-than-pleasant surprise from a potentially expensive new deductible sneaking it's way into many policies.Most homeowners write one deductible into their policy, set anywhere from 250$ to $1,000 depending on how much the homeowner is willing to pay. However, homeowners who request insurance quotes are finding out that many large insurance providers are slipping in a new deductible for hail, wind, and other types of damage that seems to be particularly focused on conditions that can damage roofs. Unfortunately, these deductibles aren't set dollar amounts, and they aren't determined by homeowners. They're set by large companies like Farmers, Allstate and State Farm and they deduct a perce...