AOL acquires Buy.at

The recent news around AOL acquisition of Buy.at was very intriguing. AOL have been trying to acquire a European affiliate network for some time, after a failed attempt to acquire TradeDoubler. I got hold of a mate of mine, Malcolm Cowley, who is the President of Buy.at, USA, (which is a subsidiary of the UK holding company) to discuss the deal and it’s impact on AOL.

Malcolm basically told me that the deal will create new monetization opportunities for his affiliates across video, mobile and display and that by leveraging the reach of advertising.com, they can bring new and exciting advertiser opportunities to the table for their affiliates. He also said that there is a plan to invest both in staff and technology to support the growth in the US.

I really thought that this was an interesting move for AOL, in terms of creating new monetization streams. ISP’s are constantly having their margins eroded, and they need to find ways to monetize their portal’s and other properties. I believe that the future for ISP’s will be in providing web applications to their users as part of the monthly subscriptions they charge for Internet access.

I said this a long time ago, and I’m reiterating it. ISP’s cannot afford to play purely in the commoditized subscriber game anymore.

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