AOL Completes Acquisition Of Global Social Media Network Bebo

AOL announced that it has completed its acquisition of Bebo, a global

social media network that will form the centerpiece of AOL´s newly

created People Networks business unit. Bebo´s CEO Joanna Shields will

serve as Executive Vice President of AOL and President of People

Networks, which combines Bebo, AIM, ICQ and AOL´s other community

platforms and reaches about 80 million users worldwide.* Shields will

report to AOL President and COO Ron Grant.
"With the addition of Bebo and the creation of

People Networks, AOL is uniquely positioned to capitalize on the

exploding social media space by delivering a more personal experience

for consumers and a better way for advertisers to engage them," said Randy Falco, Chairman and CEO of AOL. "AOL

is now fully focused on growing our business in three key areas "“ our advertising network, publishing and people networks "“ by delivering relevant content and advertising across the Web, and we´re

making great progress in each area."
In March, AOL´s publishing network hit an

all-time high in both unique visitors and page views, the sixth

consecutive month of growth, according to comScore Media Metrix, which

also ranked AOL´s Platform-A the leading

online display advertising network, with a reach of 91% of the domestic

online audience.
Ron Grant added that: "Unlike other social

networks, which have had a difficult time monetizing their sites without

jeopardizing the user experience, Bebo created an environment that

enables advertisers, brands and media companies to engage in meaningful

relevant conversations with its users. Combining Bebo with our other

social media applications, our content sites, and Platform-A gives us an

unmatched opportunity to create value for these highly engaged audiences."
"Bebo has succeeded by providing its users with the best platform for

entertainment, self-expression and community," said Joanna Shields.

"People Networks expands this vision by extending our reach, bringing

instant communication tools to our users and providing them with the

ability to share their passions with people like them."
Integrating People Networks
One of the first initiatives for People Networks will be to integrate AOL´s

other community applications and tools, including IM, chat and mail

functionality into Bebo. It will also let users merge AIM and Bebo

profiles so they can use common screen names without re-registering. AIM

is the leading instant messaging network in the U.S., with more than 30

million users. ICQ has 28 million active users worldwide.
In addition, People Networks will integrate other recent AOL

acquisitions, including widget technology company Goowy Media and social

search question and answer service Yedda. Integration plans also include

the cross-distribution of AOL and Bebo content and applications to

expand the scale of the combined networks. For example, AOL will promote

Bebo´s successful original programming "“ including the award-winning "KateModern," "Sofia´s Diary" and "The Gap Year" -- across several AOL channels. Also, Bebo is integrating AOL music and

entertainment content.
"This combination is about more than just

putting products together, it´s about

bringing together the extraordinary management teams from both Bebo and

AOL," said Shields. "When

you combine Bebo, AIM and ICQ, and AOL´s

other community products, we not only have an unmatched offering for

consumers, we have the best leaders in the business to drive our success

going forward."
For the past 18 months, Shields served as Bebo´s

President, responsible for all global commercial aspects of the

business. Prior to joining Bebo, Shields was Managing Director for

Google Europe, Russia, Middle East & Africa, responsible for building

and scaling the company´s advertising syndication network and

establishing content partnerships. She has more than 20 years of senior

management experience at leading technology and Internet companies.
Integrating Marketing Opportunities
People Networks will build on Bebo´s success

in creating rich social media experiences that successfully integrate

marketing opportunities.
Bebo pioneered the practice of "Engagement

Marketing" in social networks, enabling

brands to build lasting personal relationships with Bebo´s

community of more than 42 million members. Today, hundreds of brands and

organizations, including Apple and Nike, among others, use Bebo as a

platform to establish ongoing conversations with consumers.
In addition, Bebo has led the way in blending original online

entertainment and social networking in a way that lets brands integrate

their messages into compelling storylines. Bebo´s

productions include "KateModern," the most successful serialized program

on the Web, "Sofia´s Diary" and the upcoming "The Gap Year."
Bebo´s Open Media platform lets media

companies distribute their content to Bebo´s

users and retain 100% of their ad revenues. Open Media launched in

November 2007 with CBS, MTV Networks, BBC, Turner, ESPN and others, and

now has more than 400 partners providing tens of thousands of videos to

Bebo´s extensive video archive.
Bebo´s Open Application Platform was the first platform that enabled

developers to easily port their applications from Facebook to Bebo

reducing the investment required for developers to extend their reach

and enriching the user experience for Bebo´s members. Since publicly

opening up the platform in January 2008, more than 6,500 applications

were launched on Bebo.
To enhance AOL´s ability to monetize Bebo and

its other social networks, the company recently announced plans to

introduce a "content screening" tool. Based on the same technology AOL uses with its

award-winning parental controls, this tool will help advertisers

overcome concerns about advertising on social networking sites with

user-generated content by awarding these pages a quality score and

placing ads only on pages that surpass a quality threshold. AOL plans to

launch its content screening tool in the third quarter.
Founded in 2005, Bebo quickly became one of the leading social networks

in the UK. It is ranked No. 1 in Ireland and New Zealand, and No. 3 in

the U.S. in terms of engagement. Bebo´s

worldwide users spend an average of 30 minutes a day on the site. Bebo

has approximately 100 employees operating in offices in the UK, San

Francisco and Austin, TX. It will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary

of AOL.
About AOL
AOL® is a global Web services company that

operates some of the most popular Web destinations, offers a

comprehensive suite of free software and services runs one of the

largest Internet access businesses in the U.S., and provides a full set

of advertising solutions. A majority-owned subsidiary of Time Warner

Inc. (NYSE:TWX), AOL LLC and its subsidiaries have operations in the

U.S., Europe, Canada and Asia. Learn more at AOL.com.
* Source for metrics data in this release: comScore Media Metrix

March 2008, except for the Bebo user number, which is internal.