AOL announced at a technology conference in California on Wednesday that their advertising business was to get a major overhaul in the shape of 'One by AOL'; an ad platform which unites all ad campaigns (including video, desktop and mobile) under one single product (hence the moniker). The company began life in the 90's as a dial-up internet service, but over the past decade the company has transformed itself into a major online advertising brand. This latest move is expected to be the next big step forward for the company, which has only now started to properly shake the shackles of its brief, ill-fated dalliance with Time Warner.
This latest move is expected to be the next big step forward for the company
According to AOL Platforms CEO Bob Lord, 'One' aims to “Cut through the chaos” of the online advertising world and position itself amongst the handful of digital giants (including Google) that currently monopolise the digital advertising game. Joe Strolz, AOL's Canadian manager, who also owns the Canadian 'Huffington Post', says that “There will be a handful of platforms in automatic online ads” and that they are “Really well positioned to be a leader” amongst them. This is a claim that might actually carry some weight, as the company is now the 4th largest online ad network in America and in Canada, it reaches 19.1 million Canadians every month through its network and 10.2 million through its media sites (including the Huffington Post).
The key strategy for 'One' is to provide advertisers with better, and more accurate consumer data. As Strolz puts it; despite the fact that there is more data out there than there ever has been, “Consumers have probably never been less understood.” It will do this by (for example) tracking web users who have a tendency to empty their shopping baskets before making a purchase, building a profile of those users, and then using that information to bring them back. Of course, consumer tracking has been something of a contentious issue of late, with many on the fence as to how much data companies should be legally allowed to collect. Not even the strongest naysayers however, would deny that giving advertisers more accurate consumer data would be detrimental to an online advertising business.
The key strategy for 'One' is to provide advertisers with better, and more accurate consumer data
It would appear AOL has been on a minor spending spree over the last few years. They have bought numerous ad companies like Adap.tv and Gravity, as well as media properties like TechCrunch, all of which will be integrated into 'One'. Though many might see AOL's “Spend money to make money” strategy as a risky move, the company's stock prices are up fourfold from the record lows of 2011, with latest earnings revealing a 13% revenue increase in the last reported quarter. The company's dial-up services however, are shrinking by the year at a rate of nearly 10% annually. But then long gone are the days when AOL would send countless CD-ROMs through the mail to get us all connected to the world wide web. This is 2014, and AOL is nowhere near what it was 10 years ago. But then, are any of us?
Benjamin Hiorns is a freelance writer from the UK who fondly remembers booting up his first free AOL CD in the late 90's. He certainly doesn't miss that awful dial-up sound though!
