Content King Again for AOL

The company itself calls it “AOL Day.” The actual meeting will last about four hours. The reality is that AOL chief Jon Miller, after four months on the job, will finally unveil his plans for the revitalization of the online division of the company, which reportedly focus less on getting consumers to visit AOL, and more on giving them something to do once they get there. It’s back to “content is king” for AOL, folks.

The company this morning announced that AOL and AOL Time Warner’s leading media companies will begin integrating content from its People, Entertainment Weekly, InStyle, Parenting, Teen People and other magazines through AOL’s areas for entertainment, families, women, teens and kids at no additional cost to AOL members.

The plan is a diametric departure from AOL’s previous attempts – under the guise of integration - to force their media properties into cross-media ad deals, which some say essentially amounted to AOL revenues being propped up by better performing divisions.

The plan also calls for AOL to begin marketing a content-rich service at a cost of about $15, which is will be made available to anyone who buys high-speed internet access and feature exclusive content such as music, movie clips, video games, special shopping offers and discounts.

Incidentally, Miller’s plan is also expected to cut back free trial memberships.

Much like Wall Street, online advertising experts are divided in their opinions about the new direction. Most are at best cautious in their optimism, but as one online media veteran put it, “It isn't content that sells advertising, it’s audience. Content is simply the honey used to attract the flies. AOL needs to figure out how to better sell the audience they have, not use gimmicks like locking content behind their walled garden in the expectation that more people will subscribe.”

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