List of acquisitions by AOL

AOL's Beverly Hills branch office
AOL's Silicon Valley branch office

AOL is an internet company founded in 1985 as Quantum Computing Services.[1] Each acquisition is for the respective company in its entirety. The acquisition date listed is the date of the agreement between AOL and the subject of the acquisition. The value of each acquisition is listed in US dollars because AOL is headquartered in the United States. If the value of an acquisition is not listed, then it is undisclosed.

As of August 2013, AOL's largest acquisition has been the purchase of Netscape, a web browser company, for US$4.2 billion.

Netscape's browser was dominant, in terms of market share, but it had lost most of its share to Internet Explorer during the first browser war. By the end of 2007, the usage share of Netscape's browsers had fallen from over 90% in the 1990s, to less than 1%.[2] Its second-largest acquisition is the purchase of MapQuest, a web mapping company. From 1999–2009, MapQuest had the greatest market share among mapping websites; it has since dropped to second place, behind Google Maps.[3][4] The majority of the companies acquired by AOL are based in the United States. As of April 2008, AOL has acquired 41 companies. Most of the acquired companies are related to the internet, including several internet service providers and web browsers.

Not listed is perhaps the most notable 'acquisition', the 2000 merger with Time Warner to become AOL Time Warner. Due to the larger market capitalization of AOL, it gained ascendancy in the merger, with its executives largely displacing Time Warner's despite AOL's far smaller assets and revenues. AOL was spun off as its own independent company from Time Warner in 2009.

Acquisitions

Acquisition date Company Business Country Value (USD) References
August 1994 Redgate Communications Internet service provider  USA $33,000,000 [5]
November 1994 BookLink Web browser  USA $30,000,000 [6]
30 November 1994 NaviSoft Web server  USA — [7]
May 1995 Medior User interface design  USA — [8]
May 1995 WAIS Inc. Search engine technology  USA $15,000,000
22 September 1995 Ubique Virtual places  ISR — [9]
1 February 1996 Johnson-Grace Data compression  USA — [10]
6 August 1996 ImagiNation Network Online game  USA — [11]
25 November 1996 Global Network Navigator Web browser  USA — [12]
10 November 1997 CompuServe Online service  USA $175,000,000 [13]
26 January 1998 Personal Library Software Search engine  USA — [14]
8 June 1998 Mirabilis Instant messaging  ISR $287,000,000 [15]
24 November 1998 Netscape Web browser  USA $4,200,000,000 [16]
27 May 1999 Moviefone Film database  USA $525,000,000 [17]
1 June 1999 Nullsoft Media player  USA $80,000,000 [18]
1 June 1999 Spinner.com Media player  USA $320,000,000 [18]
October 1999 Gateway.net Internet service provider  USA $800,000,000 [19]
3 December 1999 Tegic Predictive text  USA — [20]
22 December 1999 MapQuest Web mapping  USA $1,100,000,000 [21]
2 September 2000 Quack.com Voiceportal  USA $200,000,000 [22][23]
5 September 2000 iAmaze HTML editor  USA — [24]
19 May 2001 InfoInterActive Telecommunications  CAN $28,200,000 [25]
July 2001 eVoice Telecommunications  USA — [26]
19 November 2003 Singingfish Audio/Video search engine  USA — [27]
24 June 2004 Advertising.com Online advertising  USA $435,000,000 [28]
3 August 2004 MailBlocks E-mail service provider  USA — [29]
3 August 2005 Xdrive Online file storage  USA — [30]
7 August 2005 Wildseed Mobile software  USA — [31]
5 October 2005 Weblogs, Inc. Weblog network  USA — [32]
3 November 2005 MusicNow Online music store  USA — [33]
10 January 2006 Truveo Video search engine  USA — [34]
17 May 2006 Lightningcast Internet marketing  USA — [35]
13 August 2006 Userplane Social network service  USA — [36]
16 August 2006 GameDaily Video game journalism  USA — [37]
8 November 2006 Relegence Financial services  USA — [38]
14 May 2007 Third Screen Media Mobile advertising  USA — [39]
15 May 2007 AdTech Advertising technology provider  DEU — [40]
23 July 2007 Tacoda Advertising network  USA $285,000,000 [41]
7 November 2007 Yedda Social Search  ISR — [42]
7 November 2007 Quigo Advertising network  USA — [43]
5 February 2008 buy.at Affiliate network  USA — [44]
13 March 2008 Bebo Social network service  UK $850,000,000 [45]
28 March 2008 Emurse.com Resume creation & Job hunting site  USA — [46]
14 April 2008 Sphere Web search engine  USA — [47]
15 August 2008 Socialthing Social Network Aggregator  USA — [48]
11 June 2009 Patch Media Local search (Internet)  USA — [49]
11 June 2009 Going Local search (Internet)  USA — [50]
15 July 2009 MMAFighting.com MMA blog  USA — [51]
25 January 2010 StudioNow Internet video  USA — [52]
31 August 2010 Rally Up mobile applications  USA — [53]
28 September 2010 5Min Media video syndication  ISR $65,000,000 [54]
28 September 2010 TechCrunch Technology blog  USA — [55]
28 September 2010 Thing Labs mobile applications  USA — [56]
1 December 2010 Unblab email  USA — [57]
16 December 2010 Pictela content marketing  USA — [58]
20 December 2010 About.me social networking  USA — [59]
31 January 2011 GoViral Online video distribution  DEN $96,700,000 [60]
7 February 2011 The Huffington Post news  USA $315,000,000 [61]
13 February 2013 gdgt gadget reviews media outlet  USA — [62]
7 August 2013 Adap.tv Video advertising  USA $405,000,000 [63]
6 May 2014 Convertro Attribution (marketing)  USA $101,000,000 [64]
1 December 2014 Vidible Video management and exchange platform  USA $50,000,000 [65]

References

  1. ↑ "AOL: The internet company that grew up". BBC News. 2000-10-11. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  2. ↑ "Browser Statistics". W3Schools. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  3. ↑ "Mapquest, Google and Yahoo! Maps: The Brand Issue". Hitwise. 2006-05-22. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  4. ↑ "Google Maps Surpasses Mapquest in Visits". Hitwise. 2009-04-19. Retrieved 2012-02-06.
  5. ↑ Goldfarb, Zachary A.; Diaz, Sam (2007-09-18). "AOL Moving Executives, Headquarters To New York". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  6. ↑ "Inside Microsoft (Part 2)". Business Week. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  7. ↑ "7th USENIX Tcl/Tk Conference". USENIX. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  8. ↑ "Resume: Barry Schuler". Business Week. 2001-07-02. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  9. ↑ "Ubique". The Yozma Group. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  10. ↑ "ToyWar is over!". ToyWar is over!. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  11. ↑ "America Online Acquires Imagination Network". Time Warner. 1996-08-06. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  12. ↑ "Sample Business Contracts". FindLaw. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  13. ↑ "AOL-CompuServe deal cleared". CNET. 1997-11-10. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  14. ↑ "AOL Acquires Personal Library Software". Information Today, Inc. 1998-01-26. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  15. ↑ "AOL Buys Israel's Mirabilis". InterNetNews. 1998-06-08. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  16. ↑ "AOL buys Netscape for $4.2 billion". CNET. 1998-11-24. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  17. ↑ "Short Take: AOL acquires MovieFone". CNET. 1999-05-27. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 "AOL buys Spinner, Nullsoft for $400 million". CNET. 1999-06-01. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  19. ↑ "Gateway closes AOL chapter with stock buyback". CNET. 2004-11-02. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  20. ↑ "Tegic gets its price from AOL, forgets idea of IPO". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. 1999-12-03. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  21. ↑ "AOL to acquire MapQuest". CNN. 1999-12-22. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  22. ↑ "AOL Acquires Voice Portal Quack.com". Computerworld. 2000-02-09. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  23. ↑ "Firm finds connection with cell phones". Wicked Local. 2007-02-21. Retrieved 2008-05-18.
  24. ↑ "AOL Acquires iAmaze". InterNetNews. 2000-09-05. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  25. ↑ "AOL Time Warner Agrees to Acquire InfoInterActive". The New York Times. 2001-05-19. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  26. ↑ "AOL Has a Message for Local Phone Companies". The Street. 2001-07-16. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
  27. ↑ "AOL Buys Singingfish, Rolls Out More Search Changes". Search Engine Watch. 2003-11-19. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  28. ↑ "AOL Buying Advertising.com". The Washington Post. 2004-06-24. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  29. ↑ "America Online, Inc. Announces Acquisition of Mailblocks, Inc.". AOL. 2004-08-03. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  30. ↑ "America Online, Inc. Announces Acquisition of Xdrive, Inc.". AOL. 2005-08-03. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  31. ↑ "America Online, Inc. Announces Acquisition of Wildseed, Ltd.". AOL. 2005-08-07. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  32. ↑ "Post This: America Online Acquires Weblogs, Inc.". AOL. 2005-10-05. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  33. ↑ "AOL Announces Acquisition of MusicNow". AOL. 2005-11-03. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  34. ↑ "AOL Acquires Truveo, Inc.; AOL Extends Leadership in Video Search...". AOL. 2006-01-10. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  35. ↑ "AOL LLC Acquires Lightningcast, Inc.". AOL. 2006-05-17. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  36. ↑ "AOL Acquires Userplane". AOL. 2006-08-13. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  37. ↑ "AOL acquires GameDaily". CNET. 2006-08-16. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  38. ↑ "AOL Acquires Relegence Corporation". AOL. 2006-11-08. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  39. ↑ "AOL Acquires Third Screen Media". AOL. 2007-05-14. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  40. ↑ "AOL Acquires ADTECH AG". AOL. 2007-05-15. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  41. ↑ "AOL Enters into Agreement to Acquire Behavioral Targeting Firm TACODA". AOL. 2007-07-23. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  42. ↑ "AOL Acquires Questions and Answer Service Yedda, Inc.". AOL. 2007-12-07. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  43. ↑ "AOL Enters Into Agreement To Acquire Quigo, A Leading Site and Content-Targeted Advertising Firm". AOL. 2007-11-07. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  44. ↑ "AOL Acquires buy.at Affiliate Network". AOL. 2008-02-05. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  45. ↑ "AOL To Acquire Global Social Media Network Bebo". AOL. 2008-03-13. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  46. ↑ "Emurse.com Crunchbase Profile". CrunchBase. 2014-09-05. Retrieved 2014-09-05.
  47. ↑ "AOL Acquires Sphere". AOL. 2008-04-14. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  48. ↑ "AOL to Acquire Socialthing!". AOL. 2008-08-15. Retrieved 2008-08-15.
  49. ↑ "Aol to purchase Patch". AOL. 2009-06-11. Retrieved 2009-06-11.
  50. ↑ "Aol to purchase Going". Aol. 2009-06-11. Retrieved 2009-06-11.
  51. ↑ "Aol buys MMAFighting". PaidContent.org. 2009-07-15. Retrieved 2010-09-28.
  52. ↑ "Aol buys StudioNow". TechCrunch. 2010-01-25. Retrieved 2010-09-28.
  53. ↑ "Aol buys Rally Up". TechCrunch. 2010-08-31. Retrieved 2010-09-28.
  54. ↑ "Aol buys 5Min Media". TechCrunch. 2010-09-28. Retrieved 2010-09-28.
  55. ↑ "We Got TechCrunch". TechCrunch. 2010-09-28. Retrieved 2010-09-28.
  56. ↑ "Aol buys Thing Labs". TechCrunch. 2010-09-28. Retrieved 2010-09-28.
  57. ↑ "Aol buys Unblab". TechCrunch. 2010-12-01. Retrieved 2010-12-23.
  58. ↑ "Aol buys Pictela". TechCrunch. 2010-12-16. Retrieved 2010-12-23.
  59. ↑ "AOL snaps up About.me four days after launch". CNN. 2010-12-20. Retrieved 2010-12-20.
  60. ↑ "AOL buys GoViral for $96.7m". The Guardian. 2011-01-31. Retrieved 2011-01-31.
  61. ↑ "AOL Agrees To Acquire The Huffington Post". The Huffington Post. 2011-02-07. Retrieved 2011-02-07.
  62. ↑ "AOL acquires gadget community site Gdgt to tie it more closely to its founders’ old home, Engadget". The Next Web. Retrieved February 13, 2013.
  63. ↑ "AOL Buys Adap.Tv For $405 Million". Yahoo! Finance. 2013-08-07. Retrieved 2013-08-12.
  64. ↑ "AOL Extends Programmatic Leadership with Attribution Modeling in Deal to Acquire Convertro". Aol. 2014-05-06. Retrieved 2014-05-06.
  65. ↑ "AOL Adds More Video Help by Buying Content Syndicator Vidible for Around $50 Million". Re/code. December 1, 2014. Retrieved December 2, 2014.

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