Can Tim Armstrong Revive AOL's Ad Biz?

Tim Armstrong

Time Warner cut AOL loose Wednesday. After a decade, the Internet pioneer once again stands on its own Thursday, trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AOL. It steps out alone into a competitive landscape against Internet companies Google, Microsoft and Yahoo.

AOL CEO Tim Armstrong wants to control display advertising similar to the way Google controls search. He told Julia Boorstin on CNBC's Squawk on the Street that "people are enthralled by search," and that nearly every sentence associated with advertising has ended in the word 'search.'

Armstrong says the reality is that the next $50 billion to $100 billion that will move into the online space will come from brands and brand advertising. More traditional companies have begun to take Internet advertising seriously. And that's the benefit for AOL.

The business strategy has been the biggest concern coming from investors. They look at AOL as a big business that has been in slow decline. Armstrong wants them to see the "newer business" -- the one that will overtake the declining business. So he plans to immediately show people how the brand will change. "And as I say internally, all the time is we live in the 'Show Me State.' Now, show me the metrics, show me the changes, show me the great products and services," he says.

Parting ways with Time Warner could allow AOL to return to its roots as a technology and media company, instead of just another media business unit in the Time Warner universe, according to Mark Simon, Didit vice president of industry relations.

"For a long time, AOL has looked to maximize ads in front of eyeballs," Simon says. "Think of their e-mail strategy. There were lots of things they overlooked in the ways technology could have made their advertising and content work smarter -- something that would have made them more enticing for users, and ultimately, advertisers."

Simon believes Tim Armstrong seems to be bringing the company back to that earlier moment when AOL was a "mover-and-shaker" in the technology space.

But Simon points to technical questions and challenges ahead for AOL. For example: Are there plans to differentiate generic interest from interest aimed toward some kind of purchase intent if AOL goes forward with the plan to create content around search activity and overall Web activity?

Bizarre and humorous articles are a great example, Simon says. "They attract huge amounts of readership and search activity, but often do little to drive sales for any particular product," he says. "The high numbers of page views could create a great branding and engagement opportunity for some advertisers, but less of an opportunity to drive immediate sales."

If AOL heads toward a more heavily automated and dynamic ad sales process, they will need to create rules for many different types of advertising opportunities offered. And while Simon is sure AOL has thought of this, he calls it a serious detail that needs to be addressed from the start.

When it comes to search, AOL has a long way to go. Experian Hitwise released numbers Wednesday revealing that Google accounts for 71.57% of all U.S. searches conducted in the four weeks ending Nov. 28, 2009. Yahoo Search, Bing and Ask.com received 15.39%, 9.34% and 2.65%, respectively. The remaining 52 search engines in the Hitwise Search Engine Analysis Tool accounted for 1.07% of U.S. searches.

To sell advertising, marketers want the engine to hold critical mass.

5 comments about "Can Tim Armstrong Revive AOL's Ad Biz?".
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  1. Jonathan Mirow from BroadbandVideo, Inc., December 10, 2009 at 1:41 p.m.

    "Tim Armstrong seems to be bringing the company back to that earlier moment when AOL was a "mover-and-shaker" in the technology space." And what AOL would they be talking about here? The ONLY thing this company ever did correctly was sign up millions for dial-up by sending out billions of free disks and CDs, but they missed the boat entirely on broadband. Now they're standing on that same dock as they watch the good ship Time Warner sail off into the distance. Now they're nothing but a bunch of lame MOR websites - remember when Netscape tried to become a "content company" after their technology became obsolete? Same drill here - buh-bye AOL.

  2. Roy Moskowitz from Reciprocal Results, December 10, 2009 at 3:39 p.m.

    AOL needs to improve the way they serve their ads and handle Rich Media content. AOL frequently runs ads with bad code that freeze my computer (And millions of other users' computers) in heavy rotation (I have 4 gigs of RAM). It is doing so as I write this.

  3. Mark McLaughlin, December 10, 2009 at 4:31 p.m.

    I think Laurie makes a great effort with this article to find some industry "expert" somewhere who can articulate a meaningful business plan for AOL going forward. Nice effort, but there is no there there.

    Try this one... Tim cleans up the balance sheet, gets the basics of a content driven, premium display advertising site up and running again and then orchestrates this as an easy acquisition for Google.

  4. Ned Newhouse from CreditCards.com, December 11, 2009 at 3:20 p.m.

    They key for AOL is to make it cool and relevant to the consumer. Get the audience engagement and the marketing dollars will flow. I do believe they have the right stategy with AOL along the (non branded AOL) MediaGlow content and blog properties that combine with Ad.com's large network and ad delivery tech. But to us in the trade, they have a perception not a reality problem. They should run consumer advertising that states the New AOL is not your father's AOL. Make it a cool and hip place to be. It's the consumer that matters!

  5. Ted Schachter from Ted Consulting Group, December 12, 2009 at 8:59 a.m.

    1. What is AOL’s reason for being? Connecting people? I think it has been years since people needed AOL to connect to each other and seeing it’s declining number quarter after quarter I think its customers agree.
    2. What is the AOL Unique Selling Proposition? Free email? No. Advanced Email? No. News? No. Information portal? No. Chat rooms where people can meet, argue and hook up? Maybe but then again chat rooms are so 1999. Bebo the social network they bought? No. No one cares about Bebo. They are on Facebook and LinkedIn. Technology as a platform? No. AOL has some of the worst technology and some of the most annoying to use. Come on, there must be a reason for AOL’s existence. Sadly the answer is; No! There isn’t.
    Their best shot is to leverage AIM but in the long run they will be swallowed by some company. Maybe Tim knows someone at Google (wink) and he is just cleaning this up for them. Just a cynical thought.

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