AOL Completes Acquisition of Bebo.com

AOL announced that it has completed its acquisition of Bebo, which is one of the leading social networks in the UK. It is ranked No. 1 in Ireland and New Zealand, No. 3 in the United States of America. Bebo’s worldwide users spend an average of 30 minutes a day on the site.

“With the addition of Bebo and the creation of People Networks, AOL is uniquely positioned to capitalize on the exploding social media space by delivering a more personal experience for consumers and a better way for advertisers to engage them,” said Randy Falco, Chairman and CEO of AOL.

“AOL is now fully focused on growing our business in three key areas – our advertising network, publishing and people networks – by delivering relevant content and advertising across the Web, and we’re making great progress in each area.”

AIM is the leading instant messaging network in the U.S., with more than 30 million users. ICQ has 28 million active users worldwide.

After the merger AOL’s other community applications and tools, including IM, chat and mail functionality will be integrated with Bebo. It will also let users merge AIM and Bebo profiles so that they can use common screen names without re-registering.

Goowy Media which is a widget technology company and social search question and answer service Yedda will also be integrated with plans like cross-distribution of AOL and Bebo content and applications to expand the scale of the combined networks.

For example, AOL will promote Bebo’s successful original programming – including the award-winning ‘KateModern’, ‘Sofia’s Diary’ and ‘The Gap Year’ — across several AOL channels. Also, Bebo is integrating AOL music and entertainment content.