Newsletter Article # 2- AOL's Ties to Google
Microsoft‘s plans to buy Yahoo may have created some ripples in the Google camp, but not enough. Google however, may have an ally if the Microsoft-Yahoo merger comes to pass, it is AOL. On February 6th, 2008 CEO of Time Warner, Jeff Bewkes announced that AOL’s dial up service would be dissected from its free ad- supported portal. This could mean a possible sale or alliance with Google, who already owns 5% of AOL. On July 1st 2008, Google would have the opportunity to take its AOL shares public. This could be a chance for AOL to negotiate either a sale or even a larger partnership with Google, who might at that time, be faced with competitive pressure from a possible Microsoft-Yahoo Merger.
According to news analysis Tom Lowry and Catherine Holahan, “an AOL pairing would help Google [with] editorial content.” In December 2007 according to comScore, Yahoo Finance and MSN Money had a combined 24.2 million unique monthly visitors while AOL Money & Finance had 13.5 million and Google a meager 782,000. A possible Google- AOL merger would undoubtedly be closely scrutinized by regulators, much like Google’s acquisition of DoubleClick. Issues such as anti- trust, privacy and data collection would be at the forefront. However, if the Microsoft- Yahoo deal happens this may make it easier for Google to acquire AOL.
Sources
Lowry, Tom, and Catherine Holahan. "Breaking AOL in Two: Time Warner's plan to separate AOL's free, ad-supported portal from its dial-up business could lead to closer ties with Google." businessweek.com. 7 Feb. 2008. 10 Feb. 2008
Fabrikant, Geraldine. "Time Warner Plans to Split off AOL's Dial-Up Service." nytimes.com. 7 Feb.2008. 7 Feb. 2008