• Business Insider, Friday, March 4, 2011 1:30 PM

To support its Patch network of local news blogs, AOL is in the process of acquiring hyper-local news aggregator Outside.In, Business Insider reports. No official word on the deal terms, but sources tell BI that AOL is paying less than $10 million for the start-up. BI, which first reported deal talks earlier this year, notes: "Based on AOL's properties, it makes sense that Outside.in's technology (and maybe a few employees) will be integrated into Patch."

Outside.In was founded in 2006 by author Steven Johnson, and has since received investment from the likes of Union Square Ventures, Marc Andreessen, and CNN. Despite its high caliber investors, however, BI and other industry watchers have been less than impressed with Outside.In's service, which attempts to deliver relevant news content to hyper-local audiences. As recently as last year, BI sources were frankly surprised that Outside.In was still around.

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