Comments on: AOL-Bebo: What the Web's saying

Bloggers aren't in agreement over whether AOL's acquisition of Bebo will turn the company around, but they do seem to concur that AOL had better not screw this one up.

[Pete Bardo]

Could be a good thing

If they make it so AOL doesn't suck!

Even with a cable connection, their web pages take so long to load, and consume so much processing power I finally closed my account. It took way too long to get anywhere--and it still does.

[Kev Orng]

AOL...

Amazing AOL is still around. They're a tainted brand as far as I'm concerned. Most people I know (with whom I've discussed AOL anyway) assume when they see an AOL email address that they are dealing with someone over 65 who set up their own internet connection without consulting their kids or grandkids first, or somebody who works for AOL.
Back in the 90s, we used to associate it with "internet newbie" who used the disc they got in the mail by accident, but there aren't so many internet newbies anymore.

Maybe it's just where I live, because "America Online Canada" just always seemed like the ultimate example of one of those companies that thinks it can just cynically slap "Canada" onto the end of their name without otherwise changing any of their marketing strategy/materials at all, which I usually take as a sign that said company takes this market for granted, ergo, screw you, AOL. I don't care what they buy. Thanks for all the free floppies back in the day when floppies were handy.

[Jesse Chan]

Worth the risk

It looks like AOL got Bebo at a reasonable cost-per-user. It's comparable to the News Corp acquisition of MySpace -- they've made all their money back already! http://fishtrain.com/2008/03/13/social-network-valuation/