The AOL Right Hook – They buy Bebo!

Does anyone out there know what in the digital world is AOL trying to do? In a post Microsoft-Yahoo merger-Google dominated world, this is a vital question.

Let’s look a bit at the AOL milestones as of late. They swapped Platform A execs in and out last week, this week they buy Bebo, last year they began consolidating their operations to New York, and most interestingly, Time Warner lost the one leader (my man Richard Parsons) who said they would not be spun off.

So with the acquisition of Bebo there are pieces to the AOL puzzle that seem to be taking some shape. In my fair analysis of why the Bebo acquisition makes sense a) it certainly bolsters the ad inventory for Platform-A significantly particularly as it relates to a boost of audience in the tween, teen and young adult demographics. b) Bebo brings a membership of somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 million uniques; c) Interestingly Yahoo also reps ad inventory on Bebo. Therefore, assuming that relationship goes away or even if it remains intact, there is significant additional ad revenue for AOL. Lastly, but the crucial jig in this AOL jigsaw puzzle is a real viable social networking platform, which finally puts AOL into the fray as a more viable and increasingly relevant Web 2.5 player.

What other MEGA moves did you not see / do you see coming for AOL?