AOL - Welcome back - Why it's actually doing a pretty good job.
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People talk a lot about tech companies. From Facebook to Instagram to Foursquare and Turntable.fm. To the point where it becomes easy to discount Aol. as a has been.
Aol. had an awesome first years but a not so awesome middle years. In fact, those middle years were littered with some horrible strategic decisions.
Things have changed.
These days, I think AOL is actually pretty cool. They are like the bully in high school that got beaten up in college and then learned to be actually quite a nice guy on the workfloor.
Over the years it has been scooping up great content creators such as Huffington Post, Techcrunch, and Engadget. In fact one can say that Aol. is the network behind the forces that are changing journalism in the world today. Effectively leading it's collection of content platforms from the back (Go Sun Tzu!) and supporting them when needed.
That is where Aol. is right now. It has a lot of work to do, that's for sure but we have to remember a major ace up Aol's sleeve. A proven business model. Content is invariably linked with eyeballs. And great content with more eyeballs. Aol. is monetizing now. Can it monetize better? Definitely. Does it have a great base to do that from? For sure.
If Aol. keeps collecting great players in the content field and keeps leading them from the back, supporting them where needed. It's going to do great things.
Aol. Welcome back
