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AOL
(AOL LLC., New York, NY, www.aol.com) A major online information service that provides Web surfing, e-mail, instant messaging and access to a variety of content all integrated into the AOL Web...
Dictionary
Definition: AOL
(AOL LLC., New York, NY, www.aol.com) A major online information service that provides Web surfing, e-mail, instant messaging and access to a variety of content all integrated into the AOL Web browser for Windows and Mac. AOL's e-mail and AIM instant messaging services are also available independently as is AOL's Web site, which users can customize for personal use.
When dial-up access to the Internet was king in the late 1990s and early 2000s, AOL became a major force with more than 30 million subscribers worldwide connecting via dial-up analog modems. Its integrated software was popular with first-time Internet users, who were signing up in droves. However, as broadband cable and DSL took hold, AOL's dial-up base declined significantly. By 2011, the number of users was roughly 90% lower than its high point.
Free in 2006
In August 2006, in addition to its paid dial-up service, AOL introduced free services for broadband users as well as people who used another ISP for dial-up. Advertiser supported, they included the AOL browser, e-mail with custom domain name, instant messaging, online storage, access to AOL videos, photo and video sharing and more than 200 Internet radio channels. A paid, premium service included ID theft and PC insurance.
AOL History
AOL was founded in 1985 as Quantum Computer Services by a handful of employees from the remains of Control Video Corporation (CVC), a company that sold Atari video games online. Quantum Computer offered games and other software to users with Commodore computers. In 1989, service was extended to the Mac and Apple II, and then to DOS users in 1991, when it changed its name to America Online (AOL). In 1995, the company acquired ANS, a network services provider, and two years later sold ANS to WorldCom in exchange for CompuServe's customer base, which WorldCom had recently acquired.
In 1999, AOL acquired Netscape and created an alliance with Sun to sell Netscape's Web products. Ironically, AOL's Web browser had actually been Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser and Netscape's primary competition.
In early 2001, AOL merged with Time Warner to become the largest online information and entertainment conglomerate in the world. For a while, the name of the company was AOL Time Warner; however, the merger never achieved the desired goals, and AOL was spun off in late 2009.
In the interim, AOL acquired Weblogs, Inc. in 2005, which included the Engadget tech blog. After the spin-off, in 2010, AOL added the competing TechCrunch blog to its lineup, and The Huffington Post news site the following year. See You've Got Mail, AIM, online service and ANS.
Major Marketing
Perhaps the largest CD-ROM marketing campaign ever, AOL distributed millions of introductory offers to every venue imaginable after the Internet went commercial in the mid-1990s. New members signed up in record numbers. CD-ROMs were distributed with PCs, with software, virtually anything. They even wound up in dry-ice-frozen packages of filet mignons.
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Additional Results
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The secret of how to live at AOL
For two months last fall, 19-year-old entrepreneur Eric Simons lived at AOL's Palo Alto, Calif., building. He kept his stuff in a locker, showered in its gym, ate its food, and slept on couches....
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AOL joins Microsoft as sponsor of Outercurve Foundation
The open-source-focused Outercurve Foundation now has a second major backer, in addition to Microsoft.
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Yahoo: Facebook's AOL patent deal with Microsoft shows it is weak
Yahoo has released a statement about Facebook's purchase of 650 AOL patents from Microsoft. In short, Sunnyvale has made it clear that it is going to keep fighting Menlo Park till the very end.
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Microsoft shows patent-war newcomers how it's done with AOL deal
In one smooth move, Microsoft is pocketing $550 million by selling hundreds of patents it bought from AOL to Facebook.
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Why Facebook is buying 650 AOL patents from Microsoft
Facebook is acquiring the majority of the patents Microsoft just acquired from AOL. Facebook will thus soon own over 1,000 patents. This deal is really all about another company: Yahoo.
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Microsoft, Facebook strike deal over AOL patent portfolio
Microsoft gives Facebook the right to purchase -- for $550 million cash -- a portion of the patent portfolio it recently agreed to acquire from AOL.
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Microsoft outbid Facebook for AOL patents (rumor)
Facebook also wanted the 800 patents AOL was selling, but Microsoft won the bidding war, according to a new rumor. There's still a chance, however, that Facebook will get the patents it wants.
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What Microsoft's AOL/Netscape patent purchases mean
What did Microsoft really buy from AOL and what will that mean for the Web and its competition? The experts give their two cents on what the deal will mean.
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Microsoft buys Netscape Web patents from AOL to attack Google
Microsoft didn't just buy AOL's patents, they bought what was left of its one time fierce Web browser rival Netscape's intellectual property to use in attacking Google's Android and Chrome.
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AOL's patent sale to Microsoft: stripped clean, or savvy move?
AOL strikes a deal with Microsoft to sell and license hundreds of patents. The move gives AOL a massive injection of cash. Now what, Tim Armstrong?
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Microsoft's purchase of AOL patents may be about a Google map war
If you connect the dots AOL's patent sale to Microsoft may have a lot to do with the Bing Maps, Mapquest, OpenStreetMap trio vs. Google Maps.
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AOL, Microsoft announce $1.056 billion patent deal
A patent sale agreement between AOL and Microsoft is expected to result in proceeds of $1.056 billion.
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AOL seeking buyer for patents with help from Evercore
Bloomberg reports that AOL is receiving help from Evercore Partners to pitch the portfolio, which could be worth roughly $1 billion in licensing income.
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State Dept. offering tech training to more women in Africa
TechWomen is an international exchange that uses technology as a means to empower women and girls worldwide, particularly in North Africa and the Middle East.
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Report: AOL cuts more than 40 jobs, mostly from AIM unit
Major job cuts are under way at AOL, with the AIM department taking the biggest hits as the number of layoffs could approach 100.
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AOL fourth-quarter profits beat expectations, still far from healthy
AOL's fourth-quarter results are out. As its dial-up subscriptions fall, it recouped its losses from advertising sales. The bottom line is that AOL is hanging in there.
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Mac users of iChat messaging could be burned by new AIM logging
As pointed out recently by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a new logging feature introduced into AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) raises many privacy concerns. However, Mac users may not be...
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AOL's AIM upgrade introduces 'privacy-unfriendly' features
AOL is storing more logs of communications on its servers scanning all private IMs for URLs to pre-fetch them from its servers.
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Microsoft, AOL, Yahoo will partner to fight Google, Facebook's advertising dominance
Three web giants are to ally in a bid to take back the advertising market from Google and Facebook.
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