Google Buys Stake in AOL: Keeping Things Google
In a PC World article, Google has released details that it bought a 5% stake in AOL for $1 billion. This deal is now pending SEC approval. So instead of Google possibly loosing AOL advertising revenue to MSN, it saved it by buying into AOL.
AOL decided to continue using for an additional five years Google’s search engine to power its general Web search service. It also decided to keep carrying paid search ads Google sells to advertisers, from which AOL gets a commission.
The centerpiece of the expanded partnership is the stake Google agreed to take in AOL, but other parts of the agreement are also significant, such as Google’s declared intention to explore, with AOL’s help, the market for graphical online ads where it has until now only reluctantly dipped its toes.
Now, this is really strange. But, then again, it might be part of Google’s greater scheme to make people see things the “Google-way”. AOL backing out of Google was potentially a big blow to Google in the US market. By saving the agreement, Google is assured that the 35 million AOL users will continue to benefit from search technology the “Google-way”. Google is on track to …. once again.
