World Online ( WOL ) was a European Internet Service Provider (ISP) which came to prominence in the late 1990s dotcom boom .
81-467: Founded by Dutch entrepreneur Nina Brink , World Online's name indicated its aspiration to rival the hugely successful American ISP, AOL (America On-Line). The company aimed to provide free internet access across Europe. It launched its full internet service in the Netherlands in 1996, and grew rapidly to have a presence in 15 European countries and South Africa; counting some 1.9 million customers by
162-663: A class action was brought to a Dutch court alleging that World Online, its bankers, ABN Amro, and Brink broke Dutch securities regulations when the ISP floated on the Amsterdam stock market. James Kinsella , an American, previously CEO of MSNBC.com , replaced Brink as Chairman of World Online in June. He curtailed marketing and the editorial department, and fired 150 employees at the Rotterdam corporate headquarters. He focussed on becoming
243-484: A cost of $ 1 per game. The telephone disconnected and the downloaded game would remain in GameLine's Master Module, playable until the user turned off the console or downloaded another game. In January 1983, Steve Case was hired as a marketing consultant for Control Video on the recommendation of his brother, investment banker Dan Case. In May 1983, Jim Kimsey became a manufacturing consultant for Control Video, which
324-433: A deal valued at $ 4.4 billion. The transaction was completed on June 23. Armstrong , who continued to lead the firm following regulatory approval, called the deal the logical next step for AOL. "If you look forward five years, you're going to be in a space where there are going to be massive, global-scale networks, and there's no better partner for us to go forward with than Verizon." he said. "It's really not about selling
405-512: A diagnostic tool to monitor and rate PC security status, and recommended additional security software from AOL or Download.com . Two months later, AOL released AOL Active Virus Shield , a free product developed by Kaspersky Lab , that did not require an AOL account, only an internet email address. The ISP side of AOL UK was bought by Carphone Warehouse in October 2006 to take advantage of its 100,000 LLU customers, making Carphone Warehouse
486-399: A digital documentary series focusing on high-achieving women in industries perceived as male-dominated such as war, comedy, space, business, Hollywood and politics. Subjects for MAKERS episodes have included Oprah Winfrey , Hillary Clinton , Sheryl Sandberg , Martha Stewart , Indra Nooyi , Lena Dunham and Ellen DeGeneres . On March 15, 2012, AOL announced the acquisition of Hipster,
567-410: A drastic discount to the flotation price. Kinsella replaced Brink as chairman and CEO and quickly set about cutting costs, including cancelling the private plane Brink had leased as well as stopping a multimillion-euro ad campaign featuring Sarah, Duchess of York . Kinsella eventually merged World Online with its Italian competitor, Tiscali , in a sale valuing World Online at $ 5.1 billion. Following
648-486: A drop in adjusted OIBDA due to increased investments in the company's video and programmatic platforms. On June 29, 2015, AOL announced a deal with Microsoft to take over the majority of its digital advertising business. Under the pact, as many as 1,200 Microsoft employees involved with the business will be transferred to AOL, and the company will take over the sale of display, video, and mobile ads on various Microsoft platforms in nine countries, including Brazil, Canada,
729-493: A joint venture. Those plans were abandoned when it was revealed on December 20, 2005, that Google would purchase a 5% share of AOL for $ 1 billion. On April 3, 2006, AOL announced that it would retire the full name America Online. The official name of the service became AOL, and the full name of the Time Warner subdivision became AOL LLC . On June 8, 2006, AOL offered a new program called AOL Active Security Monitor,
810-573: A major $ 4.2 billion deal. The deal closed on March 17, 1999. Another large acquisition in December 1999 was that of MapQuest , for $ 1.1 billion. In January 2000, as new broadband technologies were being rolled out around the New York City metropolitan area and elsewhere across the US, AOL and Time Warner Entertainment announced plans to merge, forming AOL Time Warner, Inc. The terms of
891-569: A market collapse, the banks had wanted the WOL float to go ahead quickly. The AEX, however, had threatened to stop the initial offering because of Brink's pre-selling of most of her holding. ABN Amro responded by threatening an injunction against the exchange. The AEX wanted Brink to lock up the shares transferred to Baystar, and $ 25 million being her participation in Baystar. She agreed to an extra lockup arrangement on shares she still controlled, and this
SECTION 10
#1732758472379972-441: A mobile photo-sharing app, for an undisclosed amount. On April 9, 2012, AOL announced a deal to sell 800 patents to Microsoft for $ 1.056 billion. The deal included a perpetual license for AOL to use the patents. In April, AOL took several steps to expand its ability to generate revenue through online video advertising . The company announced that it would offer gross rating point (GRP) guarantee for online video, mirroring
1053-410: A network operator and increasing subscriber numbers by introducing a flat-fee service, but the company was limited in its success of stimulating growth. Kinsella eventually sold World Online to Tiscali, an Italian competitor, in a deal that valued WOL at more than $ 5 billion. On September 7, 2000, World Online and Tiscali , an Italian ISP, announced their intention to combine the two companies to create
1134-522: A pan-European Internet network company. The new company would provide new telco, media and e-commerce services to the largest pan-European customer base. The combination maintained the Tiscali name and its headquarters in Sardinia , Italy . Renato Soru , the founder of Tiscali, became Executive Chairman with James Kinsella becoming Chief Executive. Tiscali emerged from the all-share deal with 56.7% of
1215-502: A series of acquisitions. It announced the acquisition of Patch Media , a network of community-specific news and information sites focused on towns and communities. On September 28, 2010, at the San Francisco TechCrunch Disrupt Conference, AOL signed an agreement to acquire TechCrunch . On December 12, 2010, AOL acquired about.me , a personal profile and identity platform, four days after
1296-569: A service for IBM -compatible PCs developed in a joint venture with the Tandy Corporation . After the company parted ways with Apple in October 1989, Quantum changed the service's name to America Online. Case promoted and sold AOL as the online service for people unfamiliar with computers, in contrast to CompuServe , which was well established in the technical community. From the beginning, AOL included online games in its mix of products; many classic and casual games were included in
1377-491: A share. Dutch investors, including World Online staff who took up loans from the company to buy shares, were outraged. Many claimed that they would never have invested in the company in the first place if they had known Brink had already sold her shares. Though the prospectus noted that Brink had "transferred" her shares, aggrieved shareholders claimed that they were misled because the prospectus should have said she "sold" her shares to Baystar. It later became known that, fearing
1458-518: A short-lived venture called Control Video Corporation ( CVC ), founded by William von Meister . Its sole product was an online service called GameLine for the Atari 2600 video game console, after von Meister's idea of buying music on demand was rejected by Warner Bros. Subscribers bought a modem from the company for $ 49.95 and paid a one-time $ 15 setup fee. GameLine permitted subscribers to temporarily download games and keep track of high scores, at
1539-612: A vice president at Microsoft and president of the Microsoft-managed part of the venture, MSNBC.com. In June 2000, Kinsella became chairman and CEO of World Online , the European equivalent of AOL owned by the Sandoz Family Foundation . The company had gone public in the spring of that year but was quickly dogged by the revelation that its founder and chairwoman, Nina Brink, had secretly sold shares at
1620-654: Is John Kinsella, a neonatologist and professor at the University of Colorado Medical School. Kinsella graduated from Lindbergh High School in St. Louis County, Missouri and Haverford College . Kinsella worked as a journalist for several U.S. media companies, including the Los Angeles Herald Examiner and Time . While on sabbatical from the Herald Examiner , where he was the editor of
1701-608: Is an American tech entrepreneur and former journalist and helped develop some of the earliest web- and cloud-based ventures in the United States and the European Union. He is considered a pioneer of early, web-based digital media. He served as president of MSNBC .com in the 1990s and as CEO at Interoute Communications, Ltd. James Kinsella was born in St. Louis, Missouri , the youngest of six children. One of his brothers
SECTION 20
#17327584723791782-501: Is commonly referred to as the " Eternal September ", as Usenet's cycle of new users was previously dominated by smaller numbers of college and university freshmen gaining access in September and taking a few weeks to acclimate. This also coincided with a new "carpet bombing" marketing campaign by CMO Jan Brandt to distribute as many free trial AOL trial disks as possible through nonconventional distribution partners. At one point, 50% of
1863-454: The HuffPost acquisition. On September 14, 2011, AOL formed a strategic ad-selling partnership with two of its largest competitors, Yahoo and Microsoft . The three companies would begin selling inventory on each other's sites. The strategy was designed to help the companies compete with Google and advertising networks. On February 28, 2012, AOL partnered with PBS to launch MAKERS,
1944-491: The Amsterdam Stock Exchange on March 17, 2000. It was underwritten by ABN AMRO and Goldman Sachs , and promoted via a pan-European ad campaign involving hired celebrities like royal Sarah, Duchess of York , actor Christopher Reeve , and rocker Joe Cocker . The initial price of the stock was set at €43, giving the company a valuation of €12 billion — the largest ever IPO for the Amsterdam exchange, and
2025-542: The CDs produced worldwide had an AOL logo. AOL quickly surpassed GEnie , and by the mid-1990s, it passed Prodigy (which for several years allowed AOL advertising) and CompuServe . In November 1994, AOL purchased Booklink for its web browser, to give its users web access. In 1996, AOL replaced Booklink with a browser based on Internet Explorer, reportedly in exchange for inclusion of AOL in Windows. AOL launched services with
2106-785: The National Education Association , the American Federation of Teachers , National Geographic , the Smithsonian Institution , the Library of Congress , Pearson , Scholastic , ASCD , NSBA , NCTE, Discovery Networks , Turner Education Services ( CNN Newsroom ), NPR , The Princeton Review , Stanley Kaplan , Barron's , Highlights for Kids , the US Department of Education , and many other education providers. AOL offered
2187-643: The Tysons Corner CDP in unincorporated Fairfax County , Virginia, near the Town of Vienna . AOL was quickly running out of room in October 1996 for its network at the Fairfax County campus. In mid-1996, AOL moved to 22000 AOL Way in Dulles , unincorporated Loudoun County , Virginia to provide room for future growth. In a five-year landmark agreement with the most popular operating system, AOL
2268-421: The "AOL" from its name. It was the largest merger in history when completed with the combined value of the companies at $ 360 billion. This value fell sharply, to as low as $ 120 billion, as markets repriced AOL's valuation as a pure internet firm more modestly when combined with the traditional media and cable business. This status did not last long, and the company's value rose again within three months. By
2349-418: The 60-day advance notice requirement by provisions of the 1988 federal WARN Act . By November 2007, AOL's customer base had been reduced to 10.1 million subscribers, slightly more than the number of subscribers of Comcast and AT&T Yahoo! . According to Falco, as of December 2007, the conversion rate of accounts from paid access to free access was more than 80%. On January 3, 2008, AOL announced
2430-457: The AEX opened on Friday, March 17, trading in WOL stock was fast; some 57 million of the 64 million new WOL shares were traded on that first day. Although the price rose briefly to €50, the upsurge was not to last. Trading had to be suspended three times after price falls, and the stock finally ended the day back at €43. On its second day of trading, WOL tumbled 16% below its listing price. By March 22
2511-735: The AOL original series The Future Starts Here in the News and Documentary category. This came days after AOL earned its first Primetime Emmy Award nomination and win for Park Bench with Steve Buscemi in the Outstanding Short Form Variety Series . Created and hosted by Tiffany Shlain , the series focused on humans' relationship with technology and featured episodes such as "The Future of Our Species," "Why We Love Robots" and "A Case for Optimism." On May 12, 2015, Verizon announced plans to buy AOL for $ 50 per share in
World Online - Misplaced Pages Continue
2592-689: The America out of America Online," according to industry pundits. Service centers based in India and the Philippines continue to provide customer support and technical assistance to subscribers. On September 17, 2007, AOL announced the relocation of one of its corporate headquarters from Dulles , Virginia to New York City and the combination of its advertising units into a new subsidiary called Platform A. This action followed several advertising acquisitions, most notably Advertising.com , and highlighted
2673-646: The Czech Republic. In November 2000 the HQ of World Online was raided concerning allegations of insider trading. In February 2001, Kinsella resigned from his position after clashing with Soru. Kinsella went on to become Chairman of Interoute , a large European network operator owned by the Sandoz Family Foundation. Brink is now a Dutch tax exile living in Brasschaat , Belgium. Renato Soru
2754-554: The United States, and the United Kingdom. Additionally, Google Search will be replaced on AOL properties with Bing —which will display advertising sold by Microsoft . Both advertising deals are subject to affiliate marketing revenue sharing . On July 22, 2015, AOL received two News and Documentary Emmy nominations, one for MAKERS in the Outstanding Historical Programming category, and
2835-456: The acquisition. On October 1, 2015, Go90, a free ad-supported mobile video service aimed at young adult and teen viewers that Verizon owns and AOL oversees and operates, launched its content publicly after months of beta testing. The initial launch line-up included content from Comedy Central , HuffPost , Nerdist News , Univision News, Vice , ESPN and MTV . James Kinsella (entrepreneur) James Kinsella (born 10 October 1959)
2916-422: The closing of its Reston, Virginia data center, which was sold to CRG West . On February 6, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes announced that Time Warner would divide AOL's internet-access and advertising businesses, with the possibility of later selling the internet-access division. On March 13, 2008, AOL purchased the social networking site Bebo for $ 850 million (£417 million). On July 25, AOL announced that it
2997-436: The company changed to a flat monthly rate of $ 19.95. During this time, AOL connections were flooded with users trying to connect, and many canceled their accounts due to constant busy signals . A commercial was made featuring Steve Case telling people AOL was working day and night to fix the problem. Within three years, AOL's user base grew to 10 million people. In 1995, AOL was headquartered at 8619 Westwood Center Drive in
3078-473: The company today. It's about setting up for the next five to 10 years." Analyst David Bank said he thought the deal made sense for Verizon. The deal will broaden Verizon's advertising sales platforms and increase its video production ability through websites such as HuffPost , TechCrunch , and Engadget . However, Craig Moffett said it was unlikely the deal would make a big difference to Verizon's bottom line. AOL had about two million dial-up subscribers at
3159-466: The company's new focus on advertising-driven business models. AOL management stressed that "significant operations" would remain in Dulles, which included the company's access services and modem banks. In October 2007, AOL announced the relocation of its other headquarters from Loudoun County , Virginia to New York City, while continuing to operate its Virginia offices. As part of the move to New York and
3240-456: The company's personalization technology, was Armstrong's fourth-largest deal since taking command in 2009. Later that year, AOL acquired Vidible, a company that developed technology to help websites run video content from other publishers, and help video publishers sell their content to these websites. The deal, which was announced December 1, 2014, was reportedly worth roughly $ 50 million. On July 16, 2014, AOL earned an Emmy nomination for
3321-560: The deal called for AOL shareholders to own 55% of the new, combined company. The deal closed on January 11, 2001. The new company was led by executives from AOL, SBI, and Time Warner. Gerald Levin , who had served as CEO of Time Warner, was CEO of the new company. Steve Case served as chairman, J. Michael Kelly (from AOL) was the chief financial officer, Robert W. Pittman (from AOL) and Dick Parsons (from Time Warner) served as co-chief operating officers. In 2002, Jonathan Miller became CEO of AOL. The following year, AOL Time Warner dropped
World Online - Misplaced Pages Continue
3402-739: The editorial pages, Kinsella was a fellow at Columbia University's Garnett Center for Media Studies. His research of media coverage of the AIDS epidemic, first published by the New England Journal of Public Policy in 1988, formed the basis of his 1989 book Covering the Plague , which tells how the media and medical experts "fumbled" the AIDS story. Kinsella was a founder of the first major media company's web-based venture, Time ' s Pathfinder . He later managed Microsoft's joint media venture with NBC, MSNBC , launched in 1996. He served as
3483-447: The end of that year, the tide had turned against "pure" internet companies, with many collapsing under falling stock prices, and even the strongest companies in the field losing up to 75% of their market value . The decline continued though 2001, but even with the losses, AOL was among the internet giants that continued to outperform brick and mortar companies. In 2004, along with the launch of AOL 9.0 Optimized, AOL also made available
3564-536: The end of the fiscal year. On November 23, AOL unveiled a new brand identity with the wordmark "Aol." superimposed onto canvases created by commissioned artists. The new identity, designed by Wolff Olins , was integrated with all of AOL's services on December 10, the date upon which AOL traded independently for the first time since the Time Warner merger on the New York Stock Exchange under
3645-455: The first Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games to depict the adventure with graphics instead of text. During the early 1990s, the average subscription lasted for about 25 months and accounted for $ 350 in total revenue. Advertisements invited modem owners to "Try America Online FREE", promising free software and trial membership. AOL discontinued Q-Link and PC Link in late 1994. In September 1993, AOL added Usenet access to its features. This
3726-505: The first parental controls, and many other online education firsts. AOL purchased search engine WebCrawler in 1995, but sold it to Excite the following year; the deal made Excite the sole search and directory service on AOL. After the deal closed in March 1997, AOL launched its own branded search engine, based on Excite, called NetFind. This was renamed to AOL Search in 1999. AOL charged its users an hourly fee until December 1996, when
3807-643: The first real-time homework help service (the Teacher Pager—1990; prior to this, AOL provided homework help bulletin boards), the first service by children, for children (Kids Only Online, 1991), the first online service for parents (the Parents Information Network, 1991), the first online courses (1988), the first omnibus service for teachers (the Teachers' Information Network, 1990), the first online exhibit ( Library of Congress , 1991),
3888-600: The hope of diverting more advertising money into the digital space. On April 24, the company launched the AOL On network, a single website for its video output. In February 2013, AOL reported its fourth quarter revenue of $ 599.5 million, its first growth in quarterly revenue in eight years. In August 2013, Armstrong announced that Patch Media would scale back or sell hundreds of its local news sites. Not long afterward, layoffs began, with up to 500 out of 1,100 positions initially impacted. On January 15, 2014, Patch Media
3969-405: The largest IPO of any European Internet company. The initial offer on the AEX was 21 times oversubscribed. However, not everyone was confident the company’s success was secure. World Online’s 1999 revenues totalled a mere €64 million, while net losses reached €91 million. More telling, while WOL was a giant in the Netherlands, it was a minor player in most of its other markets. It was not even among
4050-596: The largest LLU provider in the UK. In August 2006, AOL announced that it would offer email accounts and software previously available only to its paying customers, provided that users accessed AOL or AOL.com through an access method not owned by AOL (otherwise known as "third party transit", "bring your own access" or "BYOA"). The move was designed to reduce costs associated with the "walled garden" business model by reducing usage of AOL-owned access points and shifting members with high-speed internet access from client-based usage to
4131-550: The loss of hundreds of jobs. A subsequent partnership with Greek operator OTE to provide high-speed bandwidth to Greece in the run-up to the Olympics helped the company survive. In the aftermath of the dot-com bubble and financial crisis of 2007–2008 , Interoute acquired a series of heavily discounted European assets, including the failed KPNQwest 's Ebone network and one of the world's first business-to-business Internet service providers , PSINet Europe. In response to
SECTION 50
#17327584723794212-428: The merger, Kinsella became chairman and CEO of the Sandoz Family Foundation's other major investment in European technology, Interoute Communications Ltd. The company was launched in 1996 to develop a pan-European digital infrastructure for the booming web-based sector but suffered from the collapse of the dotcom bubble. In 2002, Kinsella brought Interoute out of bankruptcy. The move was controversial because it resulted in
4293-452: The more lucrative advertising provider AOL.com. The change from paid to free access was also designed to slow the rate at which members canceled their accounts and defected to Microsoft Hotmail , Yahoo! or other free email providers. The other free services included: Also in August, AOL informed its US customers of an increase in the price of its dial-up access to $ 25.90. The increase
4374-407: The new CEO. Under his leadership, the company invested in media brands and advertising technologies. On June 23, 2015, AOL was acquired by Verizon Communications for $ 4.4 billion. On May 3, 2021, Verizon announced it would sell Yahoo and AOL to private equity firm Apollo Global Management for $ 5 billion. On September 1, 2021, AOL became part of the new Yahoo! Inc . AOL began in 1983, as
4455-504: The new company while World Online had 43.3%. The merger created, with over 6 million subscribers, the second-largest ISP in Europe, after Deutsche Telekom 's T-Online . The move gave Tiscali access to the cash raised by World Online at its IPO. The new company was set to have a market capitalisation of about $ 11.2 billion and be a market leader in Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and
4536-724: The option of personalized greetings which would enable the user to hear his or her name while accessing basic functions and mail alerts, or while logging in or out. In 2005, AOL broadcast the Live 8 concert live over the Internet, and thousands of users downloaded clips of the concert over the following months. In late 2005, AOL released AOL Safety & Security Center, a bundle of McAfee Antivirus , CA anti-spyware, and proprietary firewall and phishing protection software. News reports in late 2005 identified companies such as Yahoo! , Microsoft , and Google as candidates for turning AOL into
4617-494: The original PlayNet software system. The company introduced many innovative online interactive titles and games, including: In February 1991, AOL for DOS was launched using a GeoWorks interface; it was followed a year later by AOL for Windows . This coincided with growth in pay-based online services, like Prodigy , CompuServe , and GEnie . 1991 also saw the introduction of an original Dungeons & Dragons title called Neverwinter Nights from Stormfront Studios , one of
4698-420: The other for True Trans With Laura Jane Grace , which documented the story of Laura Jane Grace, a transgender musician best known as the founder, lead singer, songwriter and guitarist of the punk rock band Against Me! , and her decision to come out publicly and overall transition experience. On September 3, 2015, AOL agreed to buy Millennial Media for $ 238 million. On October 23, 2015, AOL completed
4779-593: The platform's public launch. On January 31, 2011, AOL announced the acquisition of European video distribution network goviral. In March 2011, AOL acquired HuffPost for $ 315 million. Shortly after the acquisition was announced, Huffington Post co-founder Arianna Huffington replaced AOL content chief David Eun, assuming the role of president and editor-in-chief of the AOL Huffington Post Media Group. On March 10, AOL announced that it would cut approximately 900 workers following
4860-484: The product with ONE by AOL: Creative, which is geared towards creative and media agencies to similarly connect marketing and ad distribution efforts. On May 8, 2015, AOL reported its first-quarter revenue of $ 625.1 million, $ 483.5 million of which came from advertising and related operations, marking a 7% increase from Q1 2014. Over that year, the AOL Platforms division saw a 21% increase in revenue, but
4941-492: The restructuring of responsibilities at the Dulles headquarters complex after the Reston move, Falco announced on October 15, 2007, plans to lay off 2,000 employees worldwide by the end of 2007, beginning "immediately." The result was a layoff of approximately 40% of AOL's employees. Most compensation packages associated with the October 2007 layoffs included a minimum of 120 days of severance pay, 60 of which were offered in lieu of
SECTION 60
#17327584723795022-501: The rise of data-privacy concerns and the emerging General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Kinsella launched a European-based competitor in the data storage and sharing industry, called Zettabox . The company was described by the European Commission as "an example of a genuinely European cloud storage solution" and a "GDPR by design" alternative. He was widely referenced in the media as a GDPR entrepreneur. Interoute
5103-534: The secondary goal of preventing laws that might block the development of the Internet's creative potential. Two decades later, as a tech executive in the European Union, Kinsella worked to develop privacy tools to combat rampant violation of individual users' data. He also lobbied the European Union on implementation of the GDPR. He subsequently pushed for the adoption of a US version of the GDPR. The Robert McNeal and James Kinsella Family Fund supports efforts to close
5184-408: The stock was trading at €31. The stock continued to fall over the next days; its value plunging from €12 billion to €5 billion in a week. The tumbling share price coincided with the disclosure that Nina Brink had sold her stake in the ISP in December, prior to the flotation, for $ 60 million. A San Francisco-based private equity house, BayStar Capital , purchased her slice of the business at just $ 6.04
5265-409: The symbol AOL. On April 6, 2010, AOL announced plans to shutter or sell Bebo. On June 16, the property was sold to Criterion Capital Partners for an undisclosed amount, believed to be approximately $ 10 million. In December, AIM eliminated access to AOL chat rooms, noting a marked decline in usage in recent months. Under Armstrong's leadership, AOL followed a new business direction marked by
5346-506: The television-ratings system and guaranteeing audience delivery for online-video advertising campaigns bought across its properties. This announcement came just days before the Digital Content NewFront (DCNF) a two-week event held by AOL, Google , Hulu , Microsoft , Vevo and Yahoo to showcase the participating sites' digital video offerings. The DCNF was conducted in advance of the traditional television upfronts in
5427-472: The time of the buyout. The announcement caused AOL's stock price to rise 17%, while Verizon's stock price dropped slightly. Shortly before the Verizon purchase, on April 14, 2015, AOL launched ONE by AOL, a digital marketing programmatic platform that unifies buying channels and audience management platforms to track and optimize campaigns over multiple screens. Later that year, on September 15, AOL expanded
5508-460: The top five players in the crucial markets of France, Germany, or Italy. Moreover, the €12 billion valuation assessed the company’s 1.9 million subscribers at a high €6,500 each. France-based ISP LibertySurf, which did an IPO the day before WOL's, valued its subscribers at less than €3,000 each. In pre-launch trading in London's gray market, World Online's shares were going for upwards of €72. When
5589-560: The year 2000. Based in Rotterdam , Netherlands , the company’s principal shareholders included the Swiss-based Sandoz Family Foundation, Dutch mobile provider Telfort , Reggeborgh Beheer (an investment company) and Intel . WOL's IPO in 2000 proved a disaster and left the reputations of the banks, the Amsterdam stock exchange and the company itself tarnished. It was set to be officially listed on
5670-680: Was bundled with Windows software. On March 31, 1996, the short-lived eWorld was purchased by AOL. In 1997, about half of all US homes with Internet access had it through AOL. During this time, AOL's content channels, under Jason Seiken , including News, Sports, and Entertainment, experienced their greatest growth as AOL become the dominant online service internationally with more than 34 million subscribers. In February 1998, AOL acquired Compuserve Interactive Services (CIS) via WorldCom (later Verizon ), which kept Compuware's networking business. In November 1998, AOL announced it would acquire Netscape , best known for their web browser , in
5751-719: Was elected President of the Sardinia Region of Italy in 2004. On 12 January 2001, WOL was deleted from the stock market because Tiscali owned all the stocks. AOL AOL (stylized as Aol. , formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online ) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City, and a brand marketed by Yahoo! Inc. The service traces its history to an online service known as PlayNET . PlayNET licensed its software to Quantum Link (Q-Link), which went online in November 1985. A new IBM PC client
5832-571: Was founded in 1983 by Howard Goldberg and Dave Panzl. The service was different from other online services as it used the computing power of the Commodore 64 and the Apple II rather than just a "dumb" terminal. It passed tokens back and forth and provided a fixed-price service tailored for home users. In May 1988, Quantum and Apple launched AppleLink Personal Edition for Apple II and Macintosh computers. In August 1988, Quantum launched PC Link,
5913-594: Was launched in 1988, and eventually renamed as America Online in 1989. AOL grew to become the largest online service, displacing established players like CompuServe and The Source . By 1995, AOL had about three million active users. AOL was at one point the most recognized brand on the Web in the United States. AOL once provided a dial-up Internet service to millions of Americans and pioneered instant messaging and chat rooms with AOL Instant Messenger (AIM). In 1998, AOL purchased Netscape for US$ 4.2 billion. By 2000, AOL
5994-561: Was near bankruptcy. Kimsey was brought in by his West Point friend Frank Caufield , an investor in the company. In early 1985, von Meister left the company. On May 24, 1985, Quantum Computer Services , an online services company, was founded by Kimsey from the remnants of Control Video, with Kimsey as chief executive officer and Marc Seriff as chief technology officer . The technical team consisted of Seriff, Tom Ralston, Ray Heinrich, Steve Trus, Ken Huntsman, Janet Hunter, Dave Brown, Craig Dykstra, Doug Coward, and Mike Ficco. In 1987, Case
6075-409: Was part of an effort to migrate the service's remaining dial-up users to broadband, as the increased price was the same as that of its monthly DSL access. However, AOL subsequently began offering unlimited dial-up access for $ 9.95 a month. On November 16, 2006, Randy Falco succeeded Jonathan Miller as CEO. In December 2006, AOL closed its last remaining call center in the United States, "taking
6156-423: Was promoted again to executive vice-president. Kimsey soon began to groom Case to take over the role of CEO, which he did when Kimsey retired in 1991. Kimsey changed the company's strategy, and in 1985, launched a dedicated online service for Commodore 64 and 128 computers, originally called Quantum Link ("Q-Link" for short). The Quantum Link software was based on software licensed from PlayNet, Inc ., which
6237-435: Was providing internet service to over 20 million consumers, dominating the market of Internet service providers (ISPs). In 2001, at the height of its popularity, it purchased the media conglomerate Time Warner in the largest merger in US history. AOL shrank rapidly thereafter, partly due to the decline of dial-up and rise of broadband . AOL was eventually spun off from Time Warner in 2009, with Tim Armstrong appointed
6318-620: Was put in the prospectus. As a result of an apparent deficiency in Dutch law, it was not necessary for Brink's shareholding to be fully disclosed in the prospectus. The exchange eventually permitted the listing after it was shown that Baystar had not agreed to a lock-up agreement to keep its shares for a time, as is usual in such situations. In fact, Baystar had been an aggressive seller from the first day of trading. Brink resigned from her job in April under pressure from employees and investors. In May,
6399-577: Was shuttering Xdrive, AOL Pictures and BlueString to save on costs and focus on its core advertising business. AOL Pictures was closed on December 31. On October 31, AOL Hometown (a web-hosting service for the websites of AOL customers) and the AOL Journal blog hosting service were eliminated. On March 12, 2009, Tim Armstrong , formerly with Google , was named chairman and CEO of AOL. On May 28, Time Warner announced that it would position AOL as an independent company after Google 's shares ceased at
6480-557: Was sold to GTT in March 2018 for $ 2.3 billion (€1.9 billion). Kinsella is a founding partner at D4 Investments, a Seattle- and London-based early stage investor. Kinsella was a founder in 1996 of the Internet Content Coalition, a not-for-profit association of producers and distributors of original content on the Internet. Its primary role was to help create a responsible and business-friendly environment through advocacy, education, standardization and policy, with
6561-424: Was spun off, and majority ownership was held by Hale Global. By the end of 2014, AOL controlled 0.74% of the global advertising market, well behind industry leader Google's 31.4%. On January 23, 2014, AOL acquired Gravity, a software startup that tracked users' online behavior and tailored ads and content based on their interests, for $ 83 million. The deal, which included approximately 40 Gravity employees and
#378621