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AOL launches travel guides to worldwide destinations

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aoltravel.jpgAOL announced the beta launch of 
AOL Travel Guides, an online resource that provides detailed information on more than 1,900 national and international locations and over 100,000 hotels. Also available through AOL Travel, Travel Guides include destination information – restaurants, bars, sights, activities and events – as well as hotel listings, with links to book directly from the site. In addition, the guides automatically plot these locations on a map using industry-leading technology and features from MapQuest.

“AOL Travel Guides give users the opportunity to expertly plan their vacations, based on ratings and reviews from other travelers, and share their own findings with our worldwide online audience,” said Jim Kovarik, Director and General Manager, AOL Travel. “By combining user-generated and editorial content, MapQuest technology and local search results, we can provide users access to an interactive travel site where they can help shape content.”

AOL Travel Guides also provide advertisers with an opportunity to reach users who are seeking information about specific destinations. Geo-targeted ad capabilities are available at the city, state, country and world region levels. Additionally, destinations focused on specific activities such as golf or skiing will also be packaged for interested advertisers. Specific user-submitted search queries will be targeted via sponsored links.

Originally posted on June 20, 2007 @ 6:41 am

Gmail trounces AOL to take #3 web mail position

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google-mail-logoThe latest not-really-that-important web statistics show that Google’s GMail web mail service is now the third largest in the US.

What’s more surprising is that it had to overtake AOL to get there.

AOL? Why do so many people still use AOL?

The top two webmail providers are Hotmail, with 47m unique users, and Yahoo! Mail, with a whopping 106m. [Read more…]

Originally posted on August 17, 2009 @ 11:23 am

AOL CEO Goes for Niche Content

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AOL CEO Tim Armstrong
AOL CEO Tim Armstrong
The portal strategy is a relic of the late nineties, a leftover from newspapers blending content for mass audiences. Companies who continued to pursue that strategy, most notably Yahoo and AOL, have rightfully been labelled relics as well.

That’s why I’m happy to hear that AOL CEO Tim Armstrong, who jumped to the troubled tech titan from Google just over a hundred days ago, sees the folly of the portal strategy. Acknowledging the fragmentation of media, the very phenomenon that makes Google search so valuable, Armstrong is pushing two very modern ideas within the company: niche content and superdistribution. He properly positions the former to provide depth, and the latter to provide speed.

If that strategy sounds familiar, that’s because it’s the strategy of a good blog network. AOL is about to spin off from Time Warner through an IPO; the company needs a conrete direction and a fresh perspective to attract investors and survive the spinoff. You know the portal strategy is dead when your grandmother’s dialup ISP abandons it.

(Photo via John Batelle.)

Originally posted on July 20, 2009 @ 1:09 pm

AOL UK launches AOL.com with email and social networking

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AOL UK today announced the beta launch of its new homepage that will let consumers access multiple e-mail accounts and social networking services from a single online destination. The new AOL.com homepage will be opened to third-party services and content, providing consumers with new customization options while offering advertisers new opportunities to tap into an increasingly engaged audience. The site is part of the ongoing strategy of AOL’s MediaGlow publishing division to expand globally, including the launches in the UK of men’s lifestyle site Asylum, WalletPop, Autoblog, and Flytrap Games.

Some of the innovative features include AOL UK users being able to check their Google Mail, Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail and of course AOL Mail e-mail accounts, in addition to seeing their online buddies via AOL’s AIM service. From the AOL.co.uk homepage, users will also be able to post status updates to multiple social networks, and access profile activity information, including new friend requests and mail notifications, from services such as AIM, Bebo, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and other third-party sites in the future. In the UK, social sites account for one in every six minutes spent online, according to a recent study.

Originally posted on May 12, 2009 @ 11:00 am

AOL launches philanthropy feature on AOL News

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AOL’s MediaGlow has introduced a new feature on AOL News that provides information and news about philanthropic efforts across America, as well as the latest scientific information and advice about the benefits of living a philanthropic lifestyle. The feature, created in partnership with Philanthropy Project, is the latest in a series of AOL News launches across various special-interest areas that deliver top-quality breaking news.

A proprietary feature of the philanthropy news site is the GlowMeter, a quiz that reveals users’ philanthropic “colors” and matches them to GlowMates — others who are participating in like-colored philanthropic efforts in the users’ communities.

At launch, the site will highlight 11-year-old philanthropist Zach Bonner, who is walking 668 miles, from Atlanta to the White House, to rally support for homeless kids in America and youth volunteerism. Visitors will be able to track Bonner every step of the way through GPS technology and video feeds from the walkathon. In 2005, Bonner founded the Tampa-based Little Red Wagon Foundation. He is the basis of an inspiring, family movie being produced by Philanthropy Project.

Originally posted on May 13, 2009 @ 1:33 pm