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posted by takyon on Tuesday May 12 2015, @10:22PM   Printer-friendly
from the that's-a-lot-of-coasters dept.

Verizon has announced that it will be acquiring AOL for $4.4 billion. Those of us that remember AOL from the dial-up days when all noobs used it might wonder what it possibly has worth that kind of cash today. Lowell McAdam, Verizon chairman and CEO, said:

"AOL has once again become a digital trailblazer, and we are excited at the prospect of charting a new course together in the digitally connected world. At Verizon, we've been strategically investing in emerging technology, including Verizon Digital Media Services and OTT, that taps into the market shift to digital content and advertising. AOL's advertising model aligns with this approach, and the advertising platform provides a key tool for us to develop future revenue streams."

A NPR blog has an excerpt from a paywalled WSJ article which further explains:

"Verizon has said it plans to launch a video service focused on mobile devices this summer. The company has offered few details, but last month Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo said the service will offer a mix of paid, free and ad-supported content and won't try to replicate traditional TV.

"The service will feature shorter snippets rather than 30 or 60 minute shows. It also could include multicast programming—a sort of broadcast service that uses cellular airwaves—for delivering live content like sports and concerts, along with on-demand viewing."

NPR also notes:

Many people probably still associate AOL as one of their first Internet service providers. But more than two decades later, AOL is more of a media company: It owns The Huffington Post, TechCrunch, MapQuest and Moviefone. According to the company, it is the fourth largest online property in the U.S. with 200 million monthly visitors to its sites.

What does SN think? Can this deal possibly be worth it?

 
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  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 12 2015, @11:00PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 12 2015, @11:00PM (#182130)

    Mod the parent up. It has some good questions.

    Starting Score:    0  points
    Moderation   -1  
       Troll=1, Disagree=1, Total=2
    Extra 'Troll' Modifier   0  

    Total Score:   -1  
  • (Score: 0, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 12 2015, @11:18PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 12 2015, @11:18PM (#182145)

    What's the point of the "Disagree" mod if it doesn't force the mod to explain how he or she disagrees with the comment?

    • (Score: 2, Informative) by kurenai.tsubasa on Wednesday May 13 2015, @01:27AM

      by kurenai.tsubasa (5227) on Wednesday May 13 2015, @01:27AM (#182201) Journal

      One will note that the disagree mod holds no score. No +1, no -1. This is meant to head off troll/flamebait/overrated that would otherwise be used to indicate disagreement. Of course, nothing's stopping us mods (ok, this UID doesn't quite have the karma to get frequent mod points yet) from using troll/flamebait/overrated to indicate disagreement, but selecting disagree is a much more agreeable way of doing that.

      It can also ask the community at large to provide either the nature of the disagreement or perhaps, more productively, further evidence why one should not disagree with the post marked “disagree.”

      So… doing my part… (this comment is still largely offtopic and should probably get -1, feeding the trolls).

      GGP is likely modded -1 troll because it's nothing more than an ad homenim. (Also note there are 2 -1 troll mods and 1 underrated mod, so ⅓ of mods who felt the need to rate that comment disagreed that it should be -1.) What I can't understand is why offtopic wasn't used. I have no idea what this story has to do with gewg_ or huffpo. Would you or another AC care to elaborate (or a UID if I'm completely missing something)?

      Hope that helps.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 13 2015, @02:36PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 13 2015, @02:36PM (#182391)

      You were asking for this to get modded -1 Disagree, you know.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 12 2015, @11:24PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 12 2015, @11:24PM (#182149)

    It doesn't have any good questions, and you made the comment.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 12 2015, @11:57PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 12 2015, @11:57PM (#182164)
    I'm a completely different person as far as you can tell, mod my earlier post up!
  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 13 2015, @01:14AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 13 2015, @01:14AM (#182194)

    LOL...That Huffington Post is a "leftist" publication"

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 13 2015, @05:59AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 13 2015, @05:59AM (#182240)

      Conservative Logic: Anything that isn't at least as far right as Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, etc = leftist communist fascist nazi totalitarian SJW conspiracy

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Magic Oddball on Wednesday May 13 2015, @06:31AM

    by Magic Oddball (3847) on Wednesday May 13 2015, @06:31AM (#182252) Journal

    ALL of the major news/discussion sites — Salon, Ars Technica, Slate, Wired, you name it — have been owned by corporations for ages now. But hey, if you you feel so strongly that a comment should be modded up, make an account and use your own freaking mod points.

    If you're holding back due to concern over privacy, spam, tracking, etc. then use a proxy/VPN to access the site, ad-blocking with privacy filters, and mailinator or a similar email service. If even *that* isn't enough, then you probably shouldn't even be visiting the site for fear something somewhere watches.

  • (Score: 2) by janrinok on Wednesday May 13 2015, @07:30AM

    by janrinok (52) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday May 13 2015, @07:30AM (#182271) Journal
    What's the point in replying to your own post as though you are a different AC? I note, however, that you got modded appropriately - Troll!.