AOL
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</div><div><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>AOL Inc.</b> (previously known as <b>America Online</b>, written as <b>AOL</b> and styled as "<b>Aol.</b>") is an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States" title="United States" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">American</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multinational_corporation" title="Multinational corporation" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">multinational</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_media" title="Mass media" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">mass media</a> corporation based in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City" title="New York City" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">New York City</a> which develops, grows, and invests in brands and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_site" title="Web site" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">web sites</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AOL#cite_note-3" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[3]</a></sup> The company's business spans <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_distribution" title="Digital distribution" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">digital distribution</a> of content, products, and services, which it offers to consumers, publishers, and advertisers.</p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">AOL was founded in 1985 as Quantum Computer Services, an online services company by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Kimsey" title="Jim Kimsey" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Jim Kimsey</a> from the remnants of Control Video Corporation.</p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Since then, AOL has <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franchising" title="Franchising" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">franchised</a> its services to companies in several nations around the world or to set up international <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Version_number" title="Version number" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">versions</a> of its services.<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AOL#cite_note-4" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[4]</a></sup> AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AOL#cite_note-5" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[5]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-GoldfarbHQMove_6-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AOL#cite_note-GoldfarbHQMove-6" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[6]</a></sup> but has many offices in cities throughout North America. Its global offices include <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangalore,India" title="Bangalore, India" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Bangalore, India</a>; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreieich" title="Dreieich" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Dreieich, Germany</a>; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dublin,Ireland" title="Dublin, Ireland" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Dublin, Ireland</a>;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London,England" title="London, England" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">London, England</a>; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo,Japan" title="Tokyo, Japan" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Tokyo, Japan</a>; and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tel_Aviv,Israel" title="Tel Aviv, Israel" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Tel Aviv, Israel</a>. As of November 2014, it serves 2.4 million paid and free domestic (US) subscribers.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AOL#cite_note-7" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[7]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">AOL is best known for its <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online" title="Online" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">online</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_suite" title="Software suite" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">software suite</a>, also called <i>AOL</i>, which allowed customers to access the world's largest "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walled_garden(technology)" title="Walled garden (technology)" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">walled garden</a>" <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_community" title="Online community" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">online community</a> and eventually reach out to the Internet as a whole. At its peak, AOL's membership was over 35 million subscribers worldwide,<sup id="cite_ref-lessbemore_8-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AOL#cite_note-lessbemore-8" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[8]</a></sup> most of whom accessed the AOL service through the AOL software suite. AOL was ranked fourth (behind <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Wide_Web" title="World Wide Web" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">the Web</a>, email, and graphic user interfaces) in a 2007 <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA_Today" title="USA Today" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">USA Today</a></i> retrospective on the 25 events which shaped the first 25 years of the Internet<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AOL#cite_note-9" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[9]</a></sup> and was named to the ".com 25" by a panel of Silicon Valley influencers on the occasion of the same anniversary.<sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AOL#cite_note-10" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[10]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In 2000, AOL purchased <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Warner" title="Time Warner" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Time Warner</a>, the deal structured as a merger under the name AOL Time Warner.<sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AOL#cite_note-11" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[11]</a></sup> The merger was not fruitful and on May 28, 2009, Time Warner announced it would <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_spin-off" title="Corporate spin-off" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">spin off</a> AOL into a separate public company. The spinoff occurred on December 9, 2009,<sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AOL#cite_note-12" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[12]</a></sup> ending the eight-year relationship between the two companies.<sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AOL#cite_note-13" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[13]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Since then, AOL has begun to substantially change its business model reinventing itself as a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Brand_company&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Brand company (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(165, 88, 88); background: none;">brand company</a> under the guidance of CEO Tim Armstrong, creating and acquiring a range of content properties. Major acquisitions include the purchase of technology news blog <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TechCrunch" title="TechCrunch" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">TechCrunch</a> in September 2010,<sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AOL#cite_note-14" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[14]</a></sup> and on February 7, 2011, the purchase of <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Huffington_Post" title="The Huffington Post" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">The Huffington Post</a></i>.<sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AOL#cite_note-15" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[15]</a></sup> Other AOL brands include <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moviefone" title="Moviefone" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Moviefone</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engadget" title="Engadget" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Engadget</a>, Stylelist, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MapQuest" title="MapQuest" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">MapQuest</a> and Cambio.<sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AOL#cite_note-16" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[16]</a></sup></p><div class="toclimit-2" style="color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div id="toc" class="toc" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 7px; font-size: 13px; display: table; zoom: 1; background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249);"><div id="toctitle" style="direction: ltr; text-align: center;"><h2 style="color: black; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border: none; font-size: 13px; display: inline; line-height: 1.3; background: none;">Contents</h2> <span class="toctoggle" style="-webkit-user-select: none; font-size: 13px;"> [<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AOL#" id="togglelink" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">hide</a>] </span></div><ul style="line-height: 1.6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0.3em 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AOL#History" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="tocnumber">1</span> <span class="toctext">History</span></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-5" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AOL#Products_and_services" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="tocnumber">2</span> <span class="toctext">Products and services</span></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-11" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AOL#Corporate_social_responsibility" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="tocnumber">3</span> <span class="toctext">Corporate social responsibility</span></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-12" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AOL#Criticism" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="tocnumber">4</span> <span class="toctext">Criticism</span></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-13" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AOL#Company_purchases" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="tocnumber">5</span> <span class="toctext">Company purchases</span></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-14" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AOL#See_also" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="tocnumber">6</span> <span class="toctext">See also</span></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-15" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AOL#References" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="tocnumber">7</span> <span class="toctext">References</span></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-16" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AOL#External_links" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="tocnumber">8</span> <span class="toctext">External links</span></a></li></ul></div></div></div><div></div></div>