

AOL acquires Bebo for 850 million - DarrenStuart
http://www.centernetworks.com/aol-acquires-bebo-850-million

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fleaflicker
AOL is a massive company desperate to stay relevant.

A good look at their internal dysfunction and struggles over "Platform A" was
published yesterday in the NY Times:

<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/12/technology/12aol.html>

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iamelgringo
Hmmm... so, AOL paid $850 M for 3.5 million visits a month. That means that
they're paying about $250 a user.

At the same valuation per user, that values Facebook at a paltry $ 7 billion.

Another thought... if users are worth $250 a piece, maybe my blog that has 100
readers a month might actually be worth $25,000! Anyone wanna buy it? :)

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xirium
This type of valuation has been mentioned before (
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=121206> ).

Yahoo purchased GeoCities for US$1100 per user. Microsoft purchased a stake of
Facebook for US$300 per user. So, AOL buying Bebo for US$250 per user is a
relative bargain.

Regarding your blog, its only worth US$25000 if you can sell it. Otherwise it
is worth nothing.

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aston
>> Microsoft purchased a stake of Facebook for US$300 per user _and an
exclusive advertising deal_.

fix'd.

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wallflower
AOL has some cash flow - about 9 million subscribers paying $10-$25 for
Internet access monthly (<http://tinyurl.com/ytnz3d>)

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henning
so they're roughly on par with World of Warcraft, except they have a much
weaker brand?

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samwise
kinda sad when you put it that way.

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alaskamiller
except, you know, not... when you factor in their push into online advertising
and consolidation/acquisitions as well as their publications.

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staticshock
i've tried reading up on "engagement advertising", but i continue not to
understand it. it seems like a fairly empty buzzword for saying that the ads
will be micro-targeted (maybe via social networking information you've
revealed, like facebook's attempts?), which, to my knowledge, is a concept
that hasn't seen much success yet.

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poppysan
Engagement advertisement is an idea that I think successfully addresses the
problem of click fraud. Instead of just measuring clicks or impressions, they
would base the results on a desired user experience. Hard to do and track
also, imho.

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whacked_new
As per the YouTube acquisition, perhaps there will be a new surge in social
networks! The talent pool proceeds to filter itself.

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omnipath
I thought AOL didn't really have any extra cash laying around? Where did they
get the money?

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DarrenStuart
I dunno they seem to be buying a lot of stuff recently so they must have some
cash.

Don't forget its time warner as well isn't it?

~~~
omnipath
Yeah, apparently, according to wikipedia, Time Warner is thinking about
splitting 'AOL internet access and adversting businesses into two, with the
possibility of later selling the internet access division.' So they haven't
done it yet.

