Comments on: AOL up, Google down? Not so fast

A new survey says the Time Warner property may get people to spend a lot of time there, but it's Google's dollar signs that count.

[djpaisley]

time on a website? not a good measurement

why it's a bonehead idea #1

let's pretend at this point we should send out a company directive for all of our people to set OUR website as their homepage and leave it open ALL THE TIME and repeat this EVERYDAY....

what would that do to the "time" spent on our website?

2. if someone has a complicated website with horrible navigation, then it will take them longer to find the right spot... therefore more time...

3. Daily unique visits AND page views AND time spent on website should be the metrics used to measure websites....

[tsi26]

that is good stuff!

I have long said AOL users are not the brightest bunch! Thanks for confirming that! Can't even figure what to "click" on! LOL

[t8]

AOL has a problem

People spend too long on their website. That means they aren't clicking the ads as fast.

Advertising is the real bread and butter.

[gsmiller88]

Why not a combination of the two?

Number of hits and time spent on the site that is. Measuring one
way OR the other just seems half assed if you ask me. Of course
people spend MORE time on a website like AOL, because AOL is a
content provider, while Google is simply a search engine which
directs people to such websites.

[ahickey]

Valid... but...

The fact that AOL is sticky is a good thing.
Yes you go to a site like Google to find something and then move on, but isn?t Google looking to be more sticky with their Gmail, Google Maps and Google Apps.

Congrats to AOL. If they can provide content that meets the needs of a market and can generate revenue from it then that?s a good business model.

As an aside, when reading comments on News.com I always consider the audience. I expect most comments are post by technical people. So, in this instance probably less likely to use AOL. AOL goes after a different demographic.

[mwillia]

Google has Ads?

Oh, yes, all that stuff I ignore so routinely that I forget that it's there. I hate to tell companies who are buying those ads on Google this, but they're not getting any of my attention. When I do a search on Google, I look at the actual search results and nothing else.

[gunplay]

shhhhhhh!

Don't tell them that, they might just go and "improve the system" to make sure you're more "engaged". I would agree with you except when I'm specifically searching for something to buy I do occasionally click the ads.

[djpaisley]

absolutely..

Search Engine Marketing has become pay per click.. the lazy man's way of getting people to a website.. some people click on them.. but mostly just the ones at the top..

that is why organic search engine optimization is the way to go.

[jesmac418]

AOL??? Are we talking about the same AOL?

Really! I would not believe it if I had not read it.
With all the web sites out there and forums devoted to bashing AOL. I would think they would be about 100th place by now? So maybe the concept of having a IM and a web portal together still interests the average user. Maybe the free part helps and maybe user's do not mind the advertising EVERYWHERE!
I guess we will see how long this plays out. Actually coming from a internet user who started out with Compuserve and AOL I kinda fond of the old AOL. But it certainly has it's limits.