In the ongoing AOL sweepstakes, it appears MSN may be the winner over Google. So, what will it mean for all three companies?
AOL On the Block?
As you may know, the AOL unit at Time Warner has been thrashing around for the last year while trying to find a way to remain relevant. The problem for AOL, of course, is the continually decreasing use of dial-up modems as a method for accessing the Internet. Depending on the study you look act, dial-up modem access now accounts for approximately 40 percent of all Internet users. This number is consistently dropping as DSL and cable Internet access systems become more popular. The resulting struggles at AOL are having an interesting impact on the search engine wars.
Google and MSN are trying to position themselves to dominate online search. The situation boils down as follows: Google is the king, MSN wants to be it. This situation takes on particularly interesting impact when one considers that Google now supplies ads and search results to AOL. In doing so, Google derives roughly 10 percent of its revenues from the AOL relationship.
In the summer of 2005, rumors started that AOL was for sale. MSN and Google...