AOL is an internet company founded in 1985 as Quantum Computing Services.[1] Each acquisition is for the respective company in its entirety. The acquisition date listed is the date of the agreement between AOL and the subject of the acquisition. The value of each acquisition is listed in US dollars because AOL is headquartered in the United States. If the value of an acquisition is not listed, then it is undisclosed.
As of August 2013, AOL's largest acquisition has been the purchase of Netscape, a web browser company, for US$4.2 billion.
Netscape's browser was dominant, in terms of market share, but it had lost most of its share to Internet Explorer during the first browser war. By the end of 2007, the usage share of Netscape's browsers had fallen from over 90% in the 1990s, to less than 1%.[2] Its second-largest acquisition is the purchase of MapQuest, a web mapping company. From 1999 to 2009, MapQuest had the greatest market share among mapping websites; it has since dropped to second place, behind Google Maps.[3][4] The majority of the companies acquired by AOL are based in the United States. As of April 2008, AOL has acquired 41 companies. Most of the acquired companies are related to the internet, including several internet service providers and web browsers.
In 2001, AOL merged with Time Warner to become AOL Time Warner. Due to the larger market capitalization of AOL, it gained ascendancy in the merger, with its executives largely displacing Time Warner's despite AOL's far smaller assets and revenues. AOL was spun off as its own independent company from Time Warner in 2009.
Acquisition date | Company | Business | Country | Value (USD) | References |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
May 1994 | Redgate Communications | Internet service provider | USA | $35,000,000 | [5] |
November 1994 | BookLink | Web browser | USA | $30,000,000 | [6] |
30 November 1994 | NaviSoft | Web server | USA | — | [7] |
February 1995 | Advanced Network and Services | Non-Profit | USA | $35,000,000 | [8] |
May 1995 | Medior | User interface design | USA | — | [9] |
May 1995 | WAIS Inc. | Search engine technology | USA | $15,000,000 | [10] |
1 June 1995 | WebCrawler | Search engine | USA | — | [11] |
22 September 1995 | Ubique | Virtual places | ISR | $16,981,000 | [12][13] |
1 February 1996 | Johnson-Grace | Data compression | USA | — | [14] |
6 August 1996 | ImagiNation Network | Online game | USA | — | [15] |
25 November 1996 | Global Network Navigator | Web browser | USA | — | [16] |
10 November 1997 | CompuServe | Online service | USA | $175,000,000 | [17] |
26 January 1998 | Personal Library Software | Search engine | USA | — | [18] |
8 June 1998 | Mirabilis | Instant messaging | ISR | $287,000,000 | [19] |
24 November 1998 | Netscape | Web browser | USA | $4.2×10 9 | [20] |
5 April 1999 | When.com | Web-based calendar | USA | $225,000,000 | [21] |
27 May 1999 | Moviefone | Film database | USA | $525,000,000 | [22] |
1 June 1999 | Nullsoft | Media player | USA | $80,000,000 | [23] |
1 June 1999 | Spinner.com | Media player | USA | $320,000,000 | [23] |
October 1999 | Gateway.net | Internet service provider | USA | $800,000,000 | [24] |
3 December 1999 | Tegic | Predictive text | USA | — | [25] |
22 December 1999 | MapQuest | Web mapping | USA | $1.1×10 9 | [26] |
2 September 2000 | Quack.com | Voiceportal | USA | $200,000,000 | [27][28] |
5 September 2000 | iAmaze | HTML editor | USA | — | [29] |
19 May 2001 | InfoInterActive | Telecommunications | CAN | $28,200,000 | [30] |
July 2001 | eVoice | Telecommunications | USA | — | [31] |
19 November 2003 | Singingfish | Audio/Video search engine | USA | — | [32] |
24 June 2004 | Advertising.com | Online advertising | USA | $435,000,000 | [33] |
3 August 2004 | MailBlocks | E-mail service provider | USA | — | [34] |
3 August 2005 | Xdrive | Online file storage | USA | — | [35] |
7 August 2005 | Wildseed | Mobile software | USA | — | [36] |
5 October 2005 | Weblogs, Inc. | Weblog network | USA | — | [37] |
3 November 2005 | MusicNow | Online music store | USA | — | [38] |
10 January 2006 | Truveo | Video search engine | USA | — | [39] |
17 May 2006 | Lightningcast | Internet marketing | USA | — | [40] |
13 August 2006 | Userplane | Social network service | USA | — | [41] |
16 August 2006 | GameDaily | Video game journalism | USA | — | [42] |
8 November 2006 | Relegence | Financial services | ISR | — | [43] |
14 May 2007 | Third Screen Media | Mobile advertising | USA | — | [44] |
15 May 2007 | Adtech | Advertising technology provider | DEU | — | [45] |
23 July 2007 | Tacoda | Advertising network | USA | $285,000,000 | [46] |
7 November 2007 | Yedda | Social Search | ISR | — | [47] |
7 November 2007 | Quigo | Advertising network | USA | — | [48] |
5 February 2008 | buy.at | Affiliate network | USA | — | [49] |
13 March 2008 | Bebo | Social network service | UK | $850,000,000 | [50] |
28 March 2008 | Emurse.com | Resume creation & Job hunting site | USA | — | [citation needed] |
14 April 2008 | Sphere | Web search engine | USA | — | [51] |
15 August 2008 | Socialthing | Social Network Aggregator | USA | — | [52] |
11 June 2009 | Patch Media | Local search (Internet) | USA | — | [53] |
11 June 2009 | Going | Local search (Internet) | USA | — | [54] |
15 July 2009 | MMAFighting.com | MMA blog | USA | — | [55] |
25 January 2010 | StudioNow | Internet video | USA | $36,500,000 | [56] |
31 August 2010 | Rally Up | mobile applications | USA | — | [57] |
28 September 2010 | 5Min Media | video syndication | ISR | $65,000,000 | [58] |
28 September 2010 | TechCrunch | Technology blog | USA | — | [59] |
28 September 2010 | Thing Labs | mobile applications | USA | — | [60] |
1 December 2010 | Unblab | USA | — | [61] | |
16 December 2010 | Pictela | content marketing | USA | — | [62] |
20 December 2010 | About.me | social networking | USA | — | [63] |
31 January 2011 | GoViral | Online video distribution | DEN | $96,700,000 | [64] |
7 February 2011 | The Huffington Post | news | USA | $315,000,000 | [65] |
4 March 2011 | Outside.in | Local / News | USA | — | [66] |
15 March 2012 | Hipster | mobile applications | USA | — | [67] |
4 December 2012 | Buysight | Product Level Retargeting | USA | — | [68] |
13 February 2013 | gdgt | gadget reviews media outlet | USA | — | [69] |
7 August 2013 | Adap.tv | Video advertising | USA | $405,000,000 | [70] |
23 January 2014 | Gravity | Native advertising | USA | $90,700,000 | [71] |
6 May 2014 | Convertro | Attribution (marketing) | USA | $101,000,000 | [72] |
21 May 2014 | Precision Demand | Attribution (marketing) | USA | $405,000,000 | [73][74] |
1 December 2014 | Vidible | Video management and exchange platform | USA | $50,000,000 | [75] |
March 2015 | Velos | Predictive analytics | USA | — | [76] |
23 October 2015 | Millennial Media | Mobile advertising | USA | $238,000,000 | [77] |
August 2015 | Ashe Avenue | Web Development Group | USA | — | [78] |
31 August 2015 | Kanvas Labs | mobile applications | USA | — | [79] |
25 January 2016 | AlephD | Publisher Analytics | France | — | [80] |
20 April 2016 | RYOT | Immersive Media Company and Virtual Content Studio | USA | — | [81] |