• BusinessWeek , Tuesday, October 24, 2006 11:46 AM

As AOL's identity crisis persists, what can Time Warner do to bring its limping Internet division back to prominence? The move to gradually dump its dinosaur Internet service was a good one, but now the company needs a content strategy to keep customers. Video, of course, has to somehow figure into that mix, and while AOL has forged some nice content deals with TV studios, music labels and parent Time Warner, its myriad competitors have done the same thing. Why should users go to AOL to see video content when you can find the highlights (however illegally) on YouTube?

Besides, content deals just aren't that big a deal anymore. Yesterday, the Time Warner company announced it would offer Paramount Studios' movies and television shows on its site, but you can already do that at Movielink. And many Web users will just continue to download content illegally, anyway.

So how does Time Warner right the ship? Some experts think the future of Web content is about specialization. For example, YouTube is the destination for user-generated video. Yahoo! Finance and MarketWatch are places you go for stock quotes and company news. Facebook is the social destination for college kids. You gotta be "relevant to me," says David Martin of Interbrand. In other words, pick a career path, and stick to it. Then fight to get to the top.

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