AOL

Also known as Aol., aol.com, Tegic, AmericaOnline, America Online, AOL RED, America OnLine, AmericaOnLine

AOL Media LLC (formerly a predecessor company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and former online service provider based in New York City, and a brand marketed by Italian conglomerate Bending Spoons.

Key facts

Company.name: AOL Media LLC
Company.logo: AOL logo (2024).svg
Company.type: Subsidiary
Company.hq_location: 770 Broadway
Company.hq_location_city: New York City
Company.hq_location_country: U.S.
Company.area_served: Worldwide
Company.services: Web portal and online services
Company.num_employees: 5,600
Software.name: AOL Desktop
Software.developer: AOL
Software.latest release version: 9.8(Windows)1.7 (macOS)

~51 min read

Article

31 sections

Contents

History
1983–1991: early years
1991–1999: Internet age
2000–2008: As AOL Time Warner
2009–2015: As an independent digital media company
2015–2021: As part of Verizon
Merger into Oath
2021–2025: As part of Yahoo!
2025: Acquisition by Bending Spoons
Products and services
Content
Advertising
Membership
AOL Desktop
Criticism
Community leaders
Billing disputes
Account cancellation
Direct marketing of disks
Software
Usenet newsgroups
Terms of Service (TOS)
Certified email
Search data
User list exposure
AOL's Computer Checkup "scareware"
NSA PRISM program
Hosting of user profiles changed, then discontinued
See also
References
External links

The service traces its history to an online service known as PlayNET. PlayNET licensed its software to Quantum Link (Q-Link), which went online in November 1985. A new IBM PC client was launched in 1988, and eventually renamed as America Online (abbreviated as AOL) in 1989. AOL grew to become the largest online service, displacing established players like CompuServe and Prodigy. By 1995, AOL had about three million active users.