AOL launches free web portal to boost online advertising
9 June 2005
Internet giant America Online is planning to launch a free web portal in a bid to challenge Yahoo! and Google.
AOL.com will launch later this month and will offer a range of content including news, sports and weather, search, free email, photo management, city guides, radio, music and video clips.
AOL parent company Time Warner is hoping that the launch will revamp its America Online division. AOL once dominated the internet service provision market, but its subscription base has shrunk considerably in recent years from 26 million to 22 million.
Time Warner is believed has invested up to $500 million (£273 million) in developing the new portal.
AOL had $1 billion in advertising sales last year, compared with $3.6 billion from Yahoo, most of which came from advertising on its webpages. AOL now hopes that its free portal will attract higher advertising rates.
Jonathan Miller, AOL's chief executive, told the Wall Street Journal: "It's a strong market and we need to take share". "If you're going to be late to the game, it's got to be as good or better," added Ted Leonsis, AOL's vice chairman.
America Online has also announced that it has signed 10 new content partners, including CNN, for its audio and video search engine Singingfish.
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