AOL: Portals rule!
Richman began his “featured presentation” with a litany of stats positioning AOL as the leading “global (FREE) Web services company":
AOL Homepage; 25 million unique monthly visitors,
#1 Instant messaging network in U.S.; 48 million households usage monthly,
#2 Domestic Web network; 112 million unique monthly visitors,
#3 Advertising network; Ad revenues up 46% in Q3 06,
#4 Global Web network; 200 million unique visitors worldwide.
AOL Mail
AOL Client Software
AOL Anti-Virus Protection
5 GB of Online Storage
Personalized Domain Name...
For Richman, “AOL Local" is comprised of multiple consumer experiences, sharing a single localization strategy:
Mapquest
AOL Auto
AOL Search, enhanced by Google
Moviefone
AOL CityGuide
Yellow Pages…
The strategy? Pervasiveness, personalization and authenticity:
Search is at center
Visual orientation is key,
Add value through events, allow users to generate content.
AOL aims to “support browsable behavior as well as double down on search.” Richman emphasized:
Portals have the best shot at winning this game; They have the most reach and they are already in use at scale.
Richman let it be known, however, that AOL does not intend to build out its portal strategy alone.
Richman put forth that a “data and platform strategy is essential to scaling relevance” and he made a direct request for data partners and content aggregators to help us “crawl the Web.”
AOL is interested in exploring partnership opportunities to bolster:
Technology,
Distribution,
Content.
Richman underscored AOL’s innate “local” community heritage, saying “the Web is local”:
The local Web is the ultimate in personalization; it’s about “me,” what “I” am going to do.
To encourage users to have more experiences about “me” at AOL, Richman seeks partners that will enhance user engagement and interaction, with the ultimate objective of generating more page views at AOL.
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