Value in the eye
of the pyramid

Considered the red-headed stepchild between the old-school portal world and the brave new frontier of multi-platform advertising, AOL has found solid ground elsewhere: value in online brand diversity, it reports to The Washington Post.

Since the near-tectonic shift from its paid subscription service, AOL has operated different businesses under different names, from TMZ to Bluestring and others. The company simply doesn't believe it needs to depend on the equity of its core brand name to find success.

That's why the company has diversified across the internet, trying to be wherever the audience is, and whatever it needs. AOL has purchased blogs, launched outlets for user-generated content, and more to expand its online footprint and hopefully soak in as much ad revenue as possible.

The company has been buying up ad networks over the last couple years to make up, with ad revenue, what it's lost in subscription fees.