The long life of AOL is over, Verizon is buying for 4.4 billion

[AlexGoesHigh]

Verizon is buying AOL for a reported price of 50$ a share totaling at 4.4$ billion total, all cash, that's a 23% premium over the company’s three-month volume-weighted average price. AOL shares closed at $42.59 on Monday, down 8% on the year.

 

this deal would give verizon access to key AOL technology such as their high quality web video and selling ads, Verizon has been planing to launch a video service focused on mobile devices this summer. The company has offered few details, but last month Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo said the service will offer a mix of paid, free and ad-supported content and won’t try to replicate traditional TV. the service will feature short videos rather that the conventional 30 or 60 minutes shows, It also could include multicast programming—a sort of broadcast service that uses cellular airwaves—for delivering live content like sports and concerts, along with on-demand viewing.

 

Verizon is aiming at the future with this service, “This will have nothing to do with what you do in your house,” Mr. Shammo said in an interview on April 22. “Millennials consume news in ways you can’t even see on the TV.”

 

for AOL this is the end of a long road, a road that has shaped the internet landscape almost since its inception, like their well know and still alive dial-up internet service, most recently that road has gone into web ads and video streaming, AOL eventually grew to more than 20 million dial-up subscribers and consummated a $183 billion megamerger with Time Warner Inc. in 2000. The company’s value dissipated quickly after the dot-com bust and ultimately Time Warner spun out AOL in 2009.

 

their current CEO Tim Armstrong (a ex Google executive) since 2009 when it took position took the company into heavily investing into advertising services, including an automated, or “programmatic” platform that allows marketers to bid for inventory electronically. In 2013 AOL purchased Adap.tv, an “exchange” that connects buyers and sellers of online video advertising.

 

laslty, AOL has built a a stable of content including online news sites such as Huffington Post, TechCrunch and Engadget. And it has even produced original Web series

 

the deal is expected to close in the summer pending regulatory approvals, Mr. Armstrong will continue to lead AOL’s operations, the companies said. Verizon expects to finance the acquisition through cash on hand and commercial paper.

 

source: WSJ

 

WOW, that is something that i didn't expect to happen, AOL has been holding independently for so long doing different and even then they have been well know for they still alive and now shit because of shitty bandwith dial up, (verizion be a good guy and offer a broadband upgrade to those poor people), now that verizon owns them i wonder if they will continue to their businesses as usual and use their tech for that video service, or just absorb them and sold the some of the websites AOL owns, like the media stuff, this is a really interesting turn of events

[Agent181]

O=

[minibois]

Wow, much spooky. Interesting turn of events

 

I wish there was some more info now instead of later.. But I wont complain about that because that apparently makes me a whiny bitch

[Master Disaster]

So the worst telecommunications company buys the worst ISP?

[Maslofski]

4.4B for AOL? that feels overpaid

[Blebekblebek]

AOL have lot's of software IP

are they still active ISP?

[Guest Kloaked]

AOL have lot's of software IP

are they still active ISP?

Yes. There's still tons of places with dial up.

[TheGosuStandard]

Time Warner didn't see much in AOL after the split, not sure what verizon will do with them (other than their intended streaming service). 

[NumLock21]

There are some who are so used to AOL that they cant get rid of it. So what they do is pay for both. a high speed connection and aol just to use its browser.

[Feral Kat]

There are some who are so used to aOl that they cant get rid of it. So what they do is pay for both. a high speed connection and aol just to use its browser.

 

Please tell me that isn't really a thing?

[tsk]

Rip AOL, please take Verizon with you to the grave.

[SurvivorNVL]

So, when are they going to start competing and not buying eachother up?  

[Michael McAllister]

Yes. There's still tons of places with dial up.

 

AOL have lot's of software IP

are they still active ISP?

 

I think EarthLink has gone mad with $24.95 dial-up internet after three months.

[MrRavens]

Oh man, just hearing AOL takes me back. Best of luck to their future.

[ImBleu]

What a waste of money, only 70 year old grandparents use AOL.

[awesomes8wc3]

Isn't AOL mainly an advertisement and media company now?

I'm guessing Verizon is buying them for their content delivery and advertising infrastructure.

 

<cynicism>Also, since AOL owns some pretty big sites like Huffington Post, TechCrunch and Engadget maybe the reason Verizon bought them out is to corrupt them!</cynicism>

[NumLock21]

Please tell me that isn't really a thing?

Some who are not that tech savvy, are afraid of change so they kept it. One reason for it is the e-mail. Of course you can just go to aol mail by using IE, FF, or Chrome, but the layout is totally different. Still remember them sending those AOL install disc through the mail or some retail stores will have them next to the cash register, where you can just grab one.

[Blackler]

Well this is interesting as I use AOL as my main E-Mail account holder thing stuff.... But I always get asked "you have an AOL account?" and now I can say "Yes, but it's been bought by Verizon" instead of just saying "Yes".

[Feral Kat]

Some who are not that tech savvy, are afraid of change so they kept it. One reason for it is the e-mail. Of course you can just go to aol mail by using IE, FF, or Chrome, but the layout is totally different. Still remember them sending those AOL install disc through the mail or some retail stores will have them next to the cash register, where you can just grab one.

 

Huh I find that so strange but I guess it makes sense if you don't want learn a new system...to be honest I only had to suffer with dial up one or twice a week for the first year of my internet life so I never really got used to it

[Trik'Stari]

What a waste of money, only 70 year old grandparents use AOL.

My thoughts exactly.

[DeScruff]

So does this explain why AOL 4.0 is being discontinued only now in 2015?

[HalGameGuru]

Most people nowadays use AOL for free. If you have your own internet connection access to most AOL media is costless. You only pay AOL if you need AOL to provide you with internet access. If you check their site the only paid packages I can find are for support and protection, not access. AOL Desktop, AIM, most of their services are freely accessible nowadays.

 

AOL makes most of their money on the back end nowadays. I still have my old aol email account from the 90's, don't use it.... but its there...

[deadher0]

I actually did work for a nice older gal who was transitioning (just a few months ago) from an older XP laptop to a Win 8.1 machine.  The change was so jarring for her she dreaded it.  Geek Squad wouldn't even help her figure out how to keep the AOL intact for her to use.  She searched around and found my business and asked me to help her keep her AOL platform available to use.

 

Why did she use AOL?  The chat rooms.  That's right, those freaking things still have a thriving user base.  My mind was blown.  Their software functioned fine and interestingly enough, the UI hasn't changed much at all since 2001.  She was uber excited I was able to make her Windows 8 machine "feel'' like her XP machine.  

 

I walked away knowing I can still make old people happy and learned that holy freaking balls AOL is still a thing.

[Admiral Naismith]

People still use AOL guys. My parents still use it, hell, I think my sisters still have accounts.

 

My parents say they still have it because it would be a motherducking SoB to transfer decades worth of stuff over to a knew account.