AOL on Tuesday touted growth in its global and display advertising business, but still posted a net loss.
In a statement, CEO Tim Armstrong said the company made strides in its turnaround efforts. Total ad revenue in the second quarter was $319 million, up 5 percent from a year ago. Domestic display ad revenue was up 16 percent, but international display fell 10 percent. Subscription revenue was $201.3 million, down 23 percent from a year ago.
AOL hung its earnings report on global advertising revenue---including display, search and third party. That revenue tally was up $14.3 million from a year ago.
On a conference call with analysts, Armstrong talked up Project Devil, AOL's new ad platform designed to increase engagement. He said:
In Project Devil, the number of impressions sold grew over 100 percent and engagement metrics continued to improvement. Consumers are spending almost four times as long on a page with Project Devil on it -- 2.5 times longer watching video. Today we have on our sites 11 different campaigns running including premium brands like Coca Cola, Proctor & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson and Kraft.
However, AOL said it is seeing softness in display advertising for the second half of the year.
Youssef Squali, an analyst at Jefferies, said the quarter was a mixed bag at best. His key points:
As for traffic, AOL properties are flat compared to a year ago.