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Brief
AOL was acquired by Verizon Communications (Jun 2015) (see deal) and acquired by Apollo Global Management (Sep 2021) (see deal), then acquired by Bending Spoons (Jan 2026)
AOL

AOL

Digital Media & Consumer InternetBrand· part of Bending Spoonsaol.com

AOL is a web portal and former online service provider based in New York City, currently owned by Bending Spoons.

Last updated Oct 11, 2026 by the ATDb Editorial Team

In the news
Founded
1985
HQ
New York, New York, United States
Parent
Bending Spoons
Connections
54

AI-drafted from public sources45 sources cited

At a glance

Employees
201-500
Funding
acquired
Revenue
Part of Yahoo (multi-billion dollar entity)
Stock
NASDAQ:AOL
14integrations8competitors5corporate family6acquisitions
Ad NetworkProgrammatic Platform

About

Legacy internet brand operating as a consumer web portal and email service under Bending Spoons, with its former AdTech assets now part of Yahoo's advertising stack.

AOL is a web portal and former online service provider based in New York City, currently owned by Bending Spoons. Once a major internet service provider, AOL pioneered chat rooms and instant messaging through AOL Instant Messenger. In the advertising space, AOL pursued online marketing at scale, with ambitions to reach more than 140 million internet users and to improve the targeting and measurement of online advertising campaigns. Adtech was acquired specifically to provide AOL with an ad-serving platform for website publishers, and after operating as an independent subsidiary within AOL's Advertising.com division, the company eventually became part of Oath Inc., owned by Verizon Communications. Source 1: wikipedia.org — AOL Source 2: nbcnews.com — AOL to buy Advertising.com Source 3: wikipedia.org — Adtech

Business model

Consumer Portal / Media

Target market

Consumer

What they offer

  • AOL Mail

    Long-running consumer email service with a large legacy user base.

  • AOL.com Web Portal

    Consumer-facing homepage aggregating news, entertainment, and lifestyle content.

  • AOL News

    Curated news content and articles surfaced through the AOL portal.

  • AOL Search

    Web search functionality integrated into the AOL portal experience.

Key features

Consumer email (AOL Mail) with legacy user baseWeb portal aggregating news and lifestyle contentBrand recognition from decades of consumer internet presenceIntegrated search functionalityContent curation and media aggregation

Use cases

Consumer email communication via AOL MailNews and content discovery through AOL portalWeb search for legacy AOL usersNostalgic and habitual internet browsing for long-term users

Customer segments

Legacy AOL subscribers and email usersOlder demographic internet usersGeneral consumers seeking portal-style web experiences

Tech & specs

Technology stack

Web portal infrastructureEmail delivery and hosting systemsContent management and aggregation platformsCloud hosting

Security & compliance

GDPRCCPA

Deployment

Cloud

API

Limited

Corporate history
  1. 1985 · Founded
  2. 2013Absorbed Adap.tv3 sources
  3. 2013Merged with Advertising.com
  4. 2014Absorbed Convertro
  5. 2015Acquired by Verizon Communications$4.4B
  6. 2015Absorbed Millennial Media4 sources
  7. 2021Acquired by Apollo Global Management$5B
  8. 2026Acquired by Bending Spoons
    Still operating as part of Bending Spoons
See the full lineage →
Connection details
View AOL’s full portfolio (4) See alternatives to AOL See integrations with AOL (14) See acquisitions by AOL (3)

Explore further

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