AOL unveiled on September 17 a global advertising platform it said marked another step in a restructuring for the once-dominant Internet firm that has been losing ground in recent years. AOL, media titan Time Warner's Internet subsidiary, announced a series of changes aimed at positioning the company "as the world's largest and most effective advertising network."
The company said the realignment of its businesses, building on its Advertising.com network and recent acquisitions, marked the final stage in its transition from an access business to a global, ad-supported Web company.
AOL last year was forced to change its model as consumers fled in droves for access and services elsewhere on the Web, and it tried to reshape itself as a portal like Yahoo.
AOL said the new entity, called Platform A, will offer advertisers "access to the most sophisticated targeting and measurement tools available in the marketplace."
Platform A includes AOL's owned and operated sites as well as third-party sites.
The company said its new platform integrates recent acquisitions behavioural targeter TACODA; Third Screen Media, which operates the largest mobile media network; ad-serving platform Lightningcast; and ADTECH's global ad serving platform. AOL also announced that it would move its corporate headquarters to New York, from Dulles, Virginia.