New York — AOL, a unit of Time Warner Inc., continues its quest to spread out their network of dedicated sites with new avenues to generate more advertising revenues, on Tuesday launched two new sites — one geared toward personal money management and the other focused on photography as part of its bid to en-cash on growing advertising opportunities by serving niche audiences.
Similar to many other specialized sites that AOL has introduced in recent months, WalletPop and Pixcetera play down the AOL brand, which has long been associated with dial-up Internet access for the masses despite efforts to transform the company into an advertising business.
However, in its unending struggle to compete with major rivals, AOL is constantly developing scores of specialty sites — breaking away from a one-size-fits-all model and allowing each set its own design and perspective tone — as part of its effort to draw additional advertising the company crucially needs to offset plunging revenue from its shrinking base of Internet access subscribers.
The new site called, WalletPop, a new consumer and personal finance site is a spin-off of AOL’s Money & Finance, focuses on adding alerts on the latest deals and moneysaving tips. It also responds users questions related to saving money.
AOL said that WalletPop is designed to address “the money matters of real people, such as debt management, finding the best deals, saving, retirement, insurance, mortgages, banking, taxes and more,” said Marty Moe, an AOL senior vice president.
The company said that WalletPop will help consumers keep abreast and thrive in today’s economy by focusing on all aspects of consumer and personal finance, while AOL Money & Finance will continue to focus on business and investing news, tools and analysis.
AOL Money & Finance is among the most visited finance sites, with more than 15.2 million unique visitors each month and more page views than any other financial site.
In addition to WalletPop, AOL Money & Finance recently introduced real-time quotes on its stock pages, a new financial video hub and has upgraded many of its investing and portfolio management tools.
“WalletPop offers consumers something they would increasingly need: a comprehensive, accessible, and community oriented site focused exclusively on the money matters of real people, such as debt management, finding the best deals, saving, retirement, insurance, mortgages, banking, taxes and more,” said Moe.
“Additionally, AOL Money & Finance currently features CNBC video content and constantly strive to add more video content partners.”
The launch of another site Pixcetera, meanwhile, is dedicated to high-quality professional photography.
Pixcetera is aimed at professional photographers, designed to aggregate thousands of professional images and galleries now spread across various AOL network and offer comprehensive information for photographers. The site will include recommendations for taking better pictures and comments on trends in photography.
AOL, a unit of Time Warner, is offering both for free.