AOL Agrees to Acquire Social Identity Site about.me

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AOL Inc. (NYSE: AOL) today announced that it has agreed to acquire about.me, Inc., a product that empowers people to create a single personal profile page that presents their online identities together in one place, simplifying the social experience across the web. This includes profiles on Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook, email, personal blogs and more. Upon completion of the acquisition, co-founder Tony Conrad and his team will join the Consumer Applications Group led by Brad Garlinghouse and will be based in AOL’s Palo Alto, CA offices. Deal terms were not disclosed. about.me is set to join other strategic acquisitions made by AOL in 2010 including StudioNow, 5min Media, TechCrunch, Thing Labs and most recently, Pictela.

“AOL has an incredible vision for how content on the internet is changing – and how they will help shape its evolution. The combination of about.me and AOL is a natural fit as we think about what a more personalized web experience looks like for every individual online”

“about.me is more than just the aggregation of social profiles, it allows people to easily express themselves in an increasingly noisy environment full of disparate social experiences,” said Brad Garlinghouse, President of Consumer Applications, AOL. “Creating smart online identities for consumers can have an incredibly positive impact on AOL’s content and advertising strategy as it gives us the ability to provide relevant and meaningful content to consumers. The team at about.me has built an incredibly compelling product and we look forward to having them join the team.”

Founded by Tony Conrad, Timothy Young and Ryan Freitas, about.me provides a simple, cohesive way to give consumers full control of how people view their online lives. In addition to tying together an individual’s social profiles, about.me provides analytics allowing users to track how many people viewed their profile pages and which social networks they went on to view from there – providing users with deeper insight into how best to build and market their online “selves”. As a part of AOL, it will help the company enhance the experience consumers have with the entire AOL network from AOL Mail and AIM to content sites like Engadget and Popeater.

“AOL has an incredible vision for how content on the internet is changing – and how they will help shape its evolution. The combination of about.me and AOL is a natural fit as we think about what a more personalized web experience looks like for every individual online,” said Tony Conrad, co-Founder of about.me. “We’re looking forward to about.me becoming an important piece of AOL’s strategy to reach across and engage the web.”

Some example about.me splash pages include:

http://about.me/dickcostolo
http://about.me/KNAAN
http://about.me/lindsaycampbell
http://about.me/annamaria
http://about.me/om
http://about.me/kevinrose

To find out more information on about.me, visit: about.me.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding business strategies, market potential, future financial and operational performance and other matters. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the anticipated benefits of the transaction and other statements identified by words such as "may," "will," "intend," "should," "expect" or similar expressions. These statements are based on management’s current expectations and beliefs, and are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances, including, but not limited to, the satisfaction of the closing conditions to the transaction and the parties’ performance of their obligations under the agreements; changes in our plans, strategies and intentions; the competitiveness and quality of our products and services; our ability to retain, hire and develop key employees; and the intensity of competition. Any forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and actual results may vary materially from those expressed or implied by the statements herein, due to changes in economic, business, competitive, technological, strategic and/or regulatory factors, as well as factors affecting AOL's operations and businesses. More detailed information about these factors as they relate to AOL may be found in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in AOL's Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. AOL is under no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any obligation to, update or alter the forward-looking statements contained in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

About AOL

AOL Inc. (NYSE:AOL) is a leading global Web services company with an extensive suite of brands and offerings and a substantial worldwide audience. AOL's business spans online content, products and services that the company offers to consumers, publishers and advertisers. AOL is focused on attracting and engaging consumers and providing valuable online advertising services on both AOL's owned and operated properties and third-party websites. In addition, AOL operates one of the largest Internet subscription access services in the United States, which serves as a valuable distribution channel for AOL's consumer offerings.

About about.me

about.me was founded by Tony Conrad, Timothy Young and Ryan Freitas and is backed by leading Silicon Valley A-list investors True Ventures, Ron Conway, Radar Partners, Freestyle Capital and Founder Collective – the company’s advisors are amongst some of leading thought leaders in the digital social media space – the group includes notable digerati such as Kevin Rose, Dick Costolo, Veronica Belmont, Matt Mullenweg, Om Malik, Chris Sacca, Tim Ferriss, Tom Conrad, Lindsay Campbell, Peter Rojas, Ryan Block, Jeff Veen, Jyri Engstrom, Howard Lindzon, Hooman Khalili, Hiten Shah, Tom Conrad, Andy Weissman, James Joaquin and Catherine Valdez.