A post-redesign AOL hits new Web site traffic records
AOL announced on Friday that it posted double-digit growth in March, posting new traffic records for the former high-flying Internet darling.
Page views on AOL's programming sites jumped 35 percent in March, compared to a year ago, while unique visitors rose 11 percent, to 56.5 million users, in the same comparison period, according to ComScore Media Metrix.
"Our strong growth is a direct result of rebuilding each and every one of our vertical Web sites over the past 12 months, with the goal of providing consumers highly relevant and rich experiences that focus on key passion points," Bill Wilson, AOL Vertical Programming executive vice president, said in a statement.
Some of AOL's core sites that received a makeover included
During the past year, AOL has launched a number of new sites, ranging from
And in March, AOL acquired social-networking site Bebo for $850 million. Bebo, which has a strong following in the U.K., Ireland, and New Zealand, said that acquisition was made as part of AOL's efforts to grab more eyes internationally. Over the past year, AOL has launched 17 international sites.
All these efforts are designed to also drive revenue for AOL, which has struggled over the years to reposition itself, after its saw its core dial-up subscription business fall dramatically as broadband competitors came on strong. In 2006,
Last September, AOL launched its Platform-A, an advertising network designed to sell ad inventory on its own Web sites, as well as third-party sites. But in earlier this month, AOL's ad unit began to cut 100 positions from its operations.
Dawn Kawamoto covers enterprise security and financial news relating to technology for CNET News. E-mail Dawn. 
http://techwatch.reviewk.com/2008/03/aol-ad-project-platform-a-plots-plan-b/