Relying on advertising has thus far proven disappointing. There is much debate over how to monetize social media. Shields declined to comment on what will happen to those deals. That followed a Microsoft ( MSFT, Fortune 500) partnership that let members IM with anyone - Bebo friend or not - on Windows Live Messenger. In September the site announced a partnership with Yahoo ( YHOO, Fortune 500) to sell the site's display ads in Britain and Ireland and to integrate Yahoo! Answers with Bebo's site. The deal comes just one week after AOL launched Open AIM 2.0, which allows developers greater freedom to develop for the AIM network and integrate AIM into its sites and applications.īebo has a number of pre-existing deals with AOL competitors. Another reason is that with the launch of its open media platform in the fall, Bebo plays host to content from old media companies like CBS ( CBS, Fortune 500) and MTV. Her popularity is one reason why Bebo's 40 million members spend an average 33 minutes on the site. She and her friends record and post short video diaries and chat with viewers. The show's title character, Kate Modern (whose name is a play on the famous British museum, the Tate Modern), is a waifish art student trying to make it in London. It has been a pioneer in combining professionally produced entertainment and user-generated content with programs like KateModern. Started in 2005 by San Francisco programmers Michael and Xochi Birch, the company has approximately 100 employees.īebo's site looks a lot like MySpace with a cleaner interface. When integrated with instant messaging services ICQ and AIM, it is expected to reach 80 million members. Time Warner ( TWX, Fortune 500) owns AOL and Fortune.īebo will be the cornerstone to AOL's social media strategy. "Bebo is the perfect complement to AOL's personal communications network and puts us in a leading position in social media," said AOL chief executive Randy Falco.ĪOL hopes to leverage its advertising sales business across Bebo's network.
With 40 million members, Bebo's audience lags Facebook and MySpace ( NWS, Fortune 500) in the United States, but it vies for the top spot in the United Kingdom and has a fast-growing global audience. NEW YORK (Fortune) - AOL will pay $850 million to acquire global social networking site in an all-cash deal announced Thursday.
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