Blog

The New Aol Launches

Today AOL launched the new independent ‘Aol.”  The one time powerhouse Internet Service Provider is trying to gain it’s strength back, while its traffic is expected to grow significantly in the weeks and months ahead.

As you’ll notice, AOL’s blue triangle logo is now gone and is replaced by a number of unique objects, such as a goldfish, monster, colored inks, and more than a dozen other options.  The company wanted users to choose what logo they felt appropriate, and change it as often as they’d like to create a positive user experience.  You’ll also notice that not all the letters are capitalized anymore, and it ends with a period.  The once owned by Time Warner company, is officially out on their own and they are definitely trying to make a statement. 

While much of the layout of the site remails the same, Aol hopes to bring a customized site by providing one main thing. Content.  And there’s plenty of it.  Whether you are looking for news, sports, shopping, or weather, you can guarantee it’s on the site.

The company is also incorporating new media into the mix as well.  Aol’s editorial staff consists of roughly 500 talented individuals, who manage what content is provided on the homepage along with Aol’s other pages.  However, Aol is allowing anyone and everyone to submit content and actually get paid for it.  The editorial staff posts assignments to Seed.com, and after registering anyone can submit an article or photographs.    Currently Seed.com has about 3,000 freelance writers and photographers, but with Aol’s relaunch that number is expected to grow drastically. 

Technology provided by Aol will be able to search the submitted stories for plagiarism, profanity, grammar and punctuation.  Editors will then have to do fact checks, editing, and finally publish the articles.  The technology also figures out how much an article is worth, through an algorithm which figures how much an advertiser would pay for a spot next to the article.  Most articles start at a minimum of $25 while some other assignments can go up to at least $500. 

 Aol should be watched within the next few months.  Many expect that the site will have a great come back now that it is not run by Time Warner, however it will have to kick it up a notch to get ahead of other simular sites like Yahoo.