AOL renews Google search deal for 5 years

AOL has renewed a search agreement with Google, continuing a decade-long partnership between the two online giants.


The new five-year deal includes a revenue share on a per-search basis. AOL can also place its content on YouTube with both camps sharing ad revenue placed against the video.
For the six months that ended in June, AOL’s advertising revenue associated with the Google relationship was $209 million.
AOL is also working with Google to create an AOL mobile search product.
“We took a very specific tact to this deal,” said Tim Armstrong, chief executive of AOL and a former executive with Google. He said AOL began serious discussions with a handful of companies in April.
“We wanted a better product and better revenue and better distribution of AOL content,” he said about ultimately choosing to partner with Google.
AOL and Google’s 2006 contract was set to expire in December, setting off months of speculation as to what company, including Microsoft and its Bing search engine, AOL planned to partner with for search. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
AOL was spun off by Time Warner late last year and Armstrong is tasked with setting the 25-year-old Internet company, synonymous with dial-up and “you’ve got mail!” on a different course.
Since Armstrong came on board, AOL has been shedding properties, including social networking site Bebo, streamlining its sales force and rebuilding its ad platform to capture more marketing dollars as it emphasizes its content.
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