Mountain View, California — Every time AOL is expected to fade into obscurity, something crazy happens to make it relevant again. Today it has signed on for another tour with search engine seraph Google, the far-and-away market leader. Google and AOL have inked a new five-year deal to let Google continue powering the search results served up by AOL.com.
Internet giant Google and grappling online portal AOL have declared a new five-year deal that will see Google continue to provide search results for AOL’s network of content and services; however, the new deal will be expanded to include mobile search capabilities and YouTube.
The announcement came as somewhat of a surprise as the previous agreement was set to expire only later in the year. Besides, the deal is of great importance to AOL, as one of its last vestiges of profitability falls within ad sales, and the ISP and web portal owed some $209 million in revenue to its partnership with Mountain View.
“Today is another important step in the turnaround of AOL,” said Tim Armstrong, AOL’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “AOL users will be getting a better search and search ads experience from the best search company in the world — Google… All aspects of our partnership will be improved by this deal.”
However, neither AOL nor Google revealed financial agreements between the two companies, it has been announced that the new terms will include bringing AOL to the mobile search market, which has been exploding in popularity since the advent of smartphone technology.
Under the new deal, AOL video content will appear on Google’s YouTube video site, and AOL will share revenue with Google from advertisements that appear alongside search results on AOL’s sites. AOL will also bring Google search to mobile platforms as it “renews its focus” on mobile apps and content.
“After nearly a decade-long association in search, we are looking forward to expanding our global relationship to mobile search and YouTube. All aspects of our partnership will be improved by this deal.”
“We are thrilled to deepen our partnership. This agreement combines Google’s expertise in search and advertising with AOL’s strength in online content,” said Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google. “It is particularly exciting to see our relationship expand into video and mobile. These areas are now at the heart of users’ online experiences and at the core of both of our businesses.”
At AOL’s pinnacle as a dial-up Internet provider, the company possessed nearly 30 million users according to a BusinessWeek report, but with the advent of broadband its star has begun to wane. According to the company’s most recent 10-Q filing, it had 4.4 million subscribers in June 2010, down from 5.8 million a year earlier. Former Googler Tim Armstrong is currently leading an effort to revive the company as its CEO.