AOL to acquire Bebo.com

[QualityNames.com]

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AOL announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Bebo (http://www.bebo.com), a leading global social media network. Together with its AIM and ICQ personal communications network, the acquisition will give AOL a premier position in the fast growing world of social media with a network of approximately 80 million unique users.

With a total membership of more than 40 million worldwide, Bebo is a global social media network which combines community, self-expression and entertainment to enable its users to consume, create, discover and share content. Bebo is one of the leading social networks in the UK, and is ranked number one in Ireland and New Zealand, and number three in the U.S. Its users are heavily engaged and view an average of 78 pages per usage day. Bebo has approximately 100 employees operating in offices in the UK, San Francisco and Austin, TX.

The deal comes just one week after AOL’s launch of Open AIM 2.0, an initiative that allows the developer community greater freedom to access the AIM network and integrate AIM into its sites and applications, and the announcement by Apple of a downloadable AIM application for the iPhone.

Under the terms of the agreement, AOL will acquire Bebo for $850 million in cash.


Source: http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080313005484&newsLang=en

 

[.jd.]

AOL is looking much better now, and yahoo and aol might even be threat in the future for google and microsoft. That is if the deal goes through.

 

[netzilla]

That will be a nice pickup for AOL if that deal goes through. To be honest I don't see any real threat to Google at least in my lifetime.

 

[DomainBuyerBroker]

AOL is looking much better now, and yahoo and aol might even be threat in the future for google and microsoft. That is if the deal goes through.

Yeah but it's still AOL. I don't think many people think of AOL as anything new or cutting edge. They wanted to have a walled garden but people jumped the fence. I don't see people climbing back in.

 

[shockie]

i wonder if this makes aol more likely to buy yahoo or less likely... on one hand it shows their interest in picking up users, but then again this bebo acquisition might have already accomplished that.

 

[netzilla]

i wonder if this makes aol more likely to buy yahoo or less likely... on one hand it shows their interest in picking up users, but then again this bebo acquisition might have already accomplished that.

From what I have been reading...If AOL is interested in Yahoo they may indeed have a tough battle with Microsoft who is suspose to make an aggressive buyout bid something soon again I believe. This deal is being coined "Micro-hoo" :hehe:

 

[.jd.]

Well lets see, the company is still open. If AOL is serious enough they could grab yahoo before microsoft makes a move. The deal could easily happen over night, as long as the majority of shareholders (top ones) agree and the board does.

Also, if you think google has no threat in this lifetime then you really are thinking narrow minded.

 

[netzilla]

Also, if you think google has no threat in this lifetime then you really are thinking narrow minded.

JD - Please elaborate on why I am curious to hear your thoughts?

 

[.jd.]

JD - Please elaborate on why I am curious to hear your thoughts?

Unless your about to die, I see google going down the drain. There are to many idea's out there and great people making them work. There are even different ways to search coming out.. Google can't be king forever, and Microsoft is still running the show.

 

[labrocca]

To be honest I don't see any real threat to Google at least in my lifetime.

You are either very old or very young to say such a thing.

At one point no one thought AOL was stoppable. That's why they bought Time-Warner.

 

[.jd.]

You are either very old or very young to say such a thing.

At one point no one thought AOL was stoppable. That's why they bought Time-Warner.

Thanks for summing that up nicely.

 

[netzilla]

Unless your about to die, I see google going down the drain. There are to many idea's out there and great people making them work. There are even different ways to search coming out.. Google can't be king forever, and Microsoft is still running the show.

Do you work for Microsoft :hehe: ? Just kidding...how is Microsoft "running the show"? If you look at the statics search engine wise Google's uniques are double what MSN/Live and that doesn't even count return visitors. Microsoft realizes they are in deep doodoo when it comes to search hence the reason the are trying to aquire Yahoo.

With Google's portfolio including YouTube, DoubleClick, etc I dont see them being beat very easily. Just my $0.2.

You are either very old or very young to say such a thing.

At one point no one thought AOL was stoppable. That's why they bought Time-Warner.

Yeah but what good come out of that merger ? AOL as a search company is in the far back of the line.

 

[.jd.]

Do you work for Microsoft :hehe: ? Just kidding...how is Microsoft "running the show"? If you look at the statics search engine wise Google's uniques are double what MSN/Live and that doesn't even count return visitors. Microsoft realizes they are in deep doodoo when it comes to search hence the reason the are trying to aquire Yahoo.

With Google's portfolio including YouTube, DoubleClick, etc I dont see them being beat very easily. Just my $0.2.



Yeah but what good come out of that merger ? AOL as a search company is in the far back of the line.

Your extreamly right. They can't be beaten easily, though it is possible. Lol, no I don't work for microsoft.. But I still understand that there monopoly is much stronger then google. Hardware and software, I wouldn't be surprise if microsoft starts picking up there game in the search engine field. There going to buy yahoo, its pretty much just a matter of time.. Once that happens, you will have two major search engines. Google and What ever yahoo and Microsoft come up with. Google has little backing in the computer/hardware field. Microsoft has a browser that supports 80+% of internet users, and has there computers/software everywhere. Google will struggle to compete with that.

In all honesty, I root for no one. I like my options, options give me more money networks. I just dislike the fact that people consider google as some king.. Searching wise, I will agree.. Though I will say, I don't think its for long.

 

[shockie]

did a little more research and it seems microsoft is quite adamant in acquiring yahoo, so it'll probably happen... eventually.

as for toppling google, i don't think it's possible unless google makes big mistakes. thus far their management and direction has been good. sure there will always be new search ideas and advertising companies coming out, but google is buying them all up anyway.