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.
