Thursday, August 30, 2007

AOL

http://www.aol.com/

A Global Web Services Company

AOL is a leading global Web services company with a substantial and growing worldwide audience, a suite of powerful Web brands, industry-leading products and one of the largest and fastest-growing advertising networks in the United States.

In 2006, AOL shifted its strategy to build on these strengths, making its popular e-mail and AOL software, along with other services, available free to anyone with an Internet connection. AOL continues to move forward on this strategy in 2007, with a focus on growing the size of its online audience, increasing the engagement of its users and improving its ability to monetize its Web audience.

Core Statistics

114 million
Average domestic monthly unique visitors to the AOL network of Web properties during the quarter ended June 30, 2007.

52 billion
Page views for the AOL network of Web properties, during the quarter ended June 30, 2007

1.7 billion
Instant Messages sent across AOL's messaging networks (AIM and ICQ) each day, during the quarter ended June 30, 2007

1.5 billion
Approximate number of spam e-mails blocked daily, during the quarter ended June 30, 2007

Highlights
The AOL Network: Some of the Web's Best-Known Brands

AOL's network of Web properties is one of the top three in the United States, attracting an average of more than with more than 110 million unique visitors each month, according to comScore Media Metrix. Users are drawn to the robust AOL.com portal and to AOL's suite of popular destinations. MapQuest, for example, is the leading U.S. provider of online maps and directions. AIM is the #1 messaging service in the U.S. Other hits include TMZ.com- developed in partnership with Warner Bros.' Telepictures Productions, which quickly rose to become the #1 domestic celebrity site on the Web - and In2TV, which makes a wide variety of classic TV shows available free and on demand.

To capitalize on the growing demand for online video, AOL continues to improve the AOL Video portal, launched in 2006, to bring together content from leading brands, user-created video, pay-per-download feature films and full-length TV shows. AOL also has an industry-leading video search product, powered by company-owned Truveo.

AOL continues to improve on the essentials of the Web experience. In May 2007, for example, AOL launched a new Webmail service that provides consumers improvements in performance, usability and engagement and offers new opportunities for monetization. AOL also recently launched an upgrade to its AIM software, which a February 2007 technology review column in The Wall Street Journal concluded was the best instant messaging service available. It also has begun to redesign all its channels to offer a cleaner look and make the pages easier to navigate.

AOL also has one of the largest and most effective advertising operations on the Web. In the first quarter of 2007, advertising revenues climbed 40%, compared with the first quarter of 2006. For 2006, AOL's advertising revenues were 41% higher than 2005. With Advertising.com, AOL not only has one of the largest network of Web sites, but it also has the largest third-party display advertising network in the country. To expand the reach of its advertising platform as well as the tools and services available to marketers, AOL in the spring of 2007, acquired a controlling interest in Adtech AG, a leading international online ad-serving company based on Frankfurt, Germany. It also acquired Third Screen Media, a leading mobile advertising network and mobile ad-serving and management platform provider.

To supplement the advertising growth and enhance its already rich programming, AOL announced in April five new programs for the second half of 2007 and first half of 2008, partnering with DreamWorks, Endemol, Madison Road Entertainment, Mark Burnett Productions, Stone & Company and Telepictures Productions. The programs include "Gold Rush Goes Hollywood," "Million Dollar Bill" and "iLand."

AOL operates one of the largest Internet subscription businesses in the United States, with 12 million domestic subscribers at the end of the first quarter of 2007.

Finally, AOL continues to expand on a global basis as a Web services business. In addition to its existing portals in France, the U.K, Germany and Canada, AOL launched portals in India, The Netherlands and Austria, and it continues to explore opportunities elsewhere in Europe and Asia.

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