• November 17, 2008

Going all out to promote its ad business, AOL is kicking off a five-city road show tonight in New York showcasing its Web properties and the capabilities of its Platform-A ad division.

After tonight's event at the American Museum of Natural History, the AOL tour will move on to Atlanta on Nov. 20 and Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco in early 2009. The road show, dubbed "The Wider Web: Achieving Growth in a Fragmented Market," previewed in Dallas Nov. 5.

AOL launched a similar road show in 2007 as part of its First Look digital upfront touting an original programming lineup including game-themed shows such as "Million Bucks," "Gold Rush 2" and "iLand."

In the last two years, AOL has launched 20 niche sites, carving its audience into a variety of advertiser-friendly demographic categories. Despite growing traffic and page views, and the consolidation of its ad company acquisitions in Platform-A, AOL reported a 6% decline in online ad revenue in the third quarter.--Mark Walsh