The rumours of the magazine’s death have been greatly exagerated. Barely noticed amidst the internet’s lightspeed race to media stardom is the mostly ignored fact that magazine readership has risen over the past five years. It is reported that in the 12 year life of Google, magazine readership actually increased 11 per cent.

Thoes of us that are historians of the media industry have heard it all before. The TV is going to kill the radio. Home Video is going to kill the Movie theaters….and on and on. New media mediums do not kill established media mediums as long as the established media mediums offer a unique and compelling experience and quality content.

Magazines, Newspapers, printed books will survive, yes they will be transformed and the market for their traditional forms will be smaller …but they will survive and can be profitable. What do you THink?

American Express and Zynga announce strategic relationship to make virtual goods and game cards available for purchase using membership rewards® points

Deal With Zynga Marks First Time That Virtual Goods Are Available Through A Rewards Program

NEW YORK – November 30, 2010
In an industry first, American Express and Zynga announced today that they have entered into a strategic relationship that allows customers to use Membership Rewards points from American Express to pay for limited edition virtual goods, as well as physical and virtual game cards for Zynga’s games. American Express is the first financial services provider to offer reward redemptions for virtual games. The relationship will also bring to market unique joint-marketing endeavors and exclusive offers for both company’s membership bases.

“Our relationship with Zynga, one of the key players in the digital space, marks a new redemption category for American Express and reflects our ongoing commitment to expanding and deepening the value we offer customers online,” said Dan Schulman, Group President Enterprise Growth, American Express. “With millions of Cardmembers looking to use Membership Rewards points, Zynga can now offer our loyal customer base an exciting new way to engage with their popular social games.”

Cardmembers enrolled in the Membership Rewards program can use points to purchase Zynga game cards, as well as a variety of virtual goods, such as uniquely designed FarmVille manors and windmills, Café World fountains and stoves, and YoVille roadsters and robots. Typing “Zynga” in the keyword search on www.membershiprewards.com brings up all virtual goods for use in Zynga’s games.

“Our partnership with American Express marks the first time that virtual goods are available for purchase with rewards points and reinforces our commitment to offer consumers meaningful experiences that enhance their game play,” said Vishal Makhijani, SVP of Business Operations at Zynga. “Cardmembers can instantly redeem their reward points to purchase limited edition virtual goods for their favorite Zynga games.”

The specific redemption offers will start at 200 points and the goods immediately available include:

• Uniquely designed, limited edition virtual goods available exclusively to American Express® Cardmembers redeeming Membership Rewards points, such as:
• FarmVille Purple Cow (540 MR points)
• FarmVille Manx Cat (435 MR points)
• Café World Amex Lightning Stove (1945 points)
• Café World Amex Outdoor Fountain (1080 points)
• $25 and $50 physical game cards (2500 and 5000 points); and
• $2, $10 and $25 virtual game cards (200, 1000 and 2500 points).

Zynga game cards can be used for multiple Zynga games including FarmVille, FrontierVille, PetVille, YoVille, Treasure Isle and Café World.

Zynga and American Express will continue to expand the redemption offers available to Cardmembers over the coming weeks. On December 6 another 20 virtual goods will be made available including the FrontierVille Fancy Gold Hot Tub, FrontierVille Fancy Gold Fountain, Treasure Isle Zebra, and FarmVille Golden Retriever. Also on December 6, Cardmembers will be able to redeem for specific game cards for FarmVille, FrontierVille, YoVille, Café World – all will be made available in both physical and virtual game cards.

Cardmembers can begin redeeming Membership Rewards points for Zynga virtual goods and game cards immediately. For more information, please visit: www.membershiprewards.com.

About The Membership Rewards Program

The Membership Rewards program from American Express offers more than a million rewards from over 500 brands. The program allows Cardmembers to earn one point for virtually every dollar charged on eligible, enrolled American Express Cards, with many opportunities to earn points faster. Membership Rewards points are redeemable in a wide selection of reward categories. Points have no expiration date, and there is no limit on the number of points a Cardmember can earn. For more information about the Membership Rewards program, visit: www.membershiprewards.com or call 1-800-AXP-EARN (297-3276). 

About American Express

American Express is a global services company, providing customers with access to products, insights and experiences that enrich lives and build business success. Learn more at www.americanexpress.com and connect with us on www.facebook.com/americanexpress, www.twitter.com/americanexpress and www.youtube.com/americanexpress. 

About Zynga Inc.

Zynga Inc. is the world’s largest social game developer with more than 225 million monthly active users playing their games which include FarmVille, FrontierVille, Mafia Wars, Zynga Poker, Café World, Treasure Isle, YoVille, FishVille and PetVille. Zynga Inc. games are available on a number of global platforms including Facebook, MySpace, the iPad and iPhone. Through Zynga.org, Zynga players have raised more than $5 million for world social causes. Zynga Inc. is headquartered in San Francisco. For more information, visit www.zynga.com or www.zynga.org. 

Contacts:

Zynga
Lisa Chan
(415) 706-1834
lchan@zynga.com

Amex
Joanna Lambert
212-640-9668
joanna.g.lambert@aexp.com

3 Most Important Elements: Inspiration, Distruption And Value

Capturing the heart of teen consumers is no easy task. They have completely different motivations than their tween and young adult counterparts. I believe that there are three things that matter to the teen consumer: inspiration, disruption, and value.
Teens need to feel inspired by the brands in which they invest their time and money, which companies like Pepsi have shown they understand. Their latest cause-marketing masterpiece, “Pepsi Refresh Project,” has created a viral marketing juggernaut. Consumers are asked to participate in a voting process by selecting their favorite non-profit cause for micro-grants. They are also able to submit their own funding ideas in several key areas, including arts and culture, health, food and shelter, and the planet.

Almost two million people “Like” this on Facebook. But inspiration via cause-marketing strategies is not the only thing that’s important to teens. Retailers like American Eagle Outfitters offer visual inspiration to teens, and brands like Apple — with its cutting-edge technology and upbeat advertisements — are incredibly rousing as well.

While the notion of disruption may seem a bit counterintuitive, it’s necessary in order for teens to embrace a new brand. We often hear about the power of disruptive technology, and one example I love to use relates to digital downloading. When music companies decided to phase out singles, teens and young adults began sharing files illegally online — practices that were eventually replaced by legal services like iTunes and Amazon.com.

No longer was it necessary to purchase a 14-track CD for the sole purpose of owning a single, favorite song; consumers simply didn’t have to pay for music they did not want. However, record labels were not prepared to deal with this, and still have not recovered. Their initial strategy was to sue consumers, the majority of whom were minors, instead of focusing on solving their main problem: creating and distributing music consumers wanted.

This is a case where, I believe, disruption can also go a step further. Simply put, disruption literally means “an interruption or interference.” It is about innovation and understanding where your brand fits into a consumer’s mindset. Teens literally need to be interrupted to pay attention to your brand.

Let’s think for a moment about a teenager’s typical day. They normally rise around 6 a.m. or hit the snooze button, therefore throwing off the rest of their prep time for the day. They’ll eat something for breakfast on the run (how nutritious that something is, isn’t clear), dress, and either drive to school or catch the bus. They’ll spend eight hours interacting with friends (and hopefully learning something.) Then they’re off to sports, after-school activities, a part-time job, or some combination of these. They’re finally back at home in the evening doing homework, chatting with friends online, and (maybe) watching some TV.

There’s a lot going on throughout that day, and at some point, a teenager makes a decision to either interact with your brand or not. Are they eating your breakfast cereal? Dressing in your clothes? Talking on your cell phone? Driving your car to school, or walking there in your brand of shoes? They’re doing these things with someone’s products, and how they decide what to use is a result of a series of choices — both their own and others’.

It could be mom who ultimately plunks down the cash for the purchase, a friend who lets them know what the “latest thing” is, or a team member who advises them on the apparel that will best improve their game. So whatever your brand can do to be disruptive — to make just enough noise to become relevant — is extremely important to this group of consumers.

Finally, you have to offer value. Any business student, upon writing that very first business plan, is told that they must offer a “value proposition.” This is a simple statement that normally starts with “We promise to …” and ends with “give you the shiniest hair possible, the most stylish pair of shoes, the best fashion content …” But there is one ending that trumps all others: “at a reasonable price.”

When it comes to teens, price matters — more than you think. It did even before the Recession hit. So you can only imagine how they feel about it in this post-Recession era. Teens have tons of expenses: lesser commitments like prom, clothes, and electronics, and the big-ticket items as well, with college and a car purchase looming. The list goes on and on. Value, indeed, is of the most importance these days.

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is everywhere lately! His life has been turned into a movie, he’s dined with the president of the United States, and he has his very own comic book. Wait, what?

Mashable reports that Canadian comic production company Bluewater Productions is releasing a very special “biographical comic portraying the life of Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg” today.

The comic book is 48 pages long and can be found in most comic book shops. (It doesn’t appear to be on sale online. If you find it online, let us know!) And if you decide to shell out $6.99 for it, you’ll get not only a “balanced portrayal” of Zuckerberg’s story, but you’ll also know what’s coming in a future animated series:

This take on Zuckerberg’s life and career prompted production company Hayden 5 Media to option the script and create an animated film based on the comic book.

According to Todd Wiseman, President of Hayden 5, the proposed film will apply an interpolated rotoscoping technique to give the project a unique comic book aesthetic. This cross between real characters and animated surrounding was used in the movie A Scanner Darkly.

Movie? Check. Comic book? Check. Animated series? Check.

What’s left for the Zuck to accomplish now?

Related stories:

•Facebook threatens to sue tabloid over pedophile story
•1 million Facebook friends buy this woman a jerk
•’Sister Internet’ kicked out of convent for Facebook use
Rosa Golijan writes about tech here and there. She’s obsessed with Twitter and loves to be liked on Facebook. Sadly she does not have her own comic book series yet.
.

Whether their parents like it or not, some children are always going to find ways to use social media, for the same reasons adults are drawn to it — because they find it intriguing and want to socialize with their peers online. Once concerned parents admit this fact, the best strategy is probably risk management — which includes channeling their kids’ social media activity into relatively safe spaces designed just for them.

On that note, there are already a number of social networks for kids, including Club Penguin, where you can hang out with friends through Antarctic avatars, and Minyanville, a virtual world which helps teach kids about financial responsibility — but these sites are generally aimed at pre-teens. Meanwhile parents may be leery of letting tweens and younger teens use sites like Facebook and MySpace. In other words, there is a social network gap for the 8-14 crowd (a not inconsiderable cohort, numbering about 14 million or 4.5% of the U .S. population).

That’s the target audience for imbee, a free social network for tweens described by its creators as “part YouTube, part Amazon.com, part iTunes…and all imbee. “According to the same statement, imbee’s mission is to provide a “safe place for kids to chat with friends, upload videos and photos, play games, check out original shorts and web series and get the latest pop culture news.” This includes original and exclusive content; kids can also create avatars and participate in interest groups and “fanzones.” In the next couple months imbee plans to introduce music downloads and e-commerce through an online retail store.

Erik Sass will be there speaking during “Q&A: When Will Social Media Actually Make Money? (And How?)” on February 28 at 4:45 PM. Top executives will be there. Will you?
Register today and save.Underscoring the site’s safety mission, imbee launched with a public service announcement about “Abuse of Technology,” warning against the perils of cyber-bullying (for both the victims and the bullies).

Before they can use the site, kids have to obtain identity authentication in the form of a credit card from a parent or teacher — the same process used by the U.S. Postal Service to verify changes of address. Parents can then use built-in security settings to set parameters for their kids’ online activity, adjusting the range and types of activity according to age. Parents can also receive a daily report of their kids’ activity on imbee.

Given our current, technologically focused times, the National 4H Council — the private, non-profit partner of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and its National Institute for Food Agriculture — is looking to dispel the notion that it is out of step with the world and today’s youth.

Via a massive PSA campaign that includes video, print, online and social elements, the Washington, D.C.-based organization is looking to demonstrate how its 6 million youth members give back to their communities.

“The 4H is in just about every community in the nation,” says Noel Ritter, associated creative director at Big River Advertising, the Richmond, Va. agency that created the campaign. “There are thousands and thousands of stories. One story by itself may not seem surprising, but once you see it’s a whole community of kids in this giant organization, then you realize it’s a whole revolution.”

So much so that the campaign carries the theme “Revolution of Responsibility,” and showcases the uncommon commitment its youth members have in improving their communities.

A key component of the effort is an online video that tells the stories of members using geographical tracking and computers to combat obesity in their community by making it easier to find healthy food. It also tells the story of a group from Oregon helping low-income people improve their lives through technology and a girl from Ohio who used winnings from her prize hogs to buy a house.

The effort has several, multifaceted goals. The first is to get members from all over the country communicating with each other. Big River created a video that essentially teaches members how to create and upload their own stories to a dedicated microsite, Ritter says.

“We’ve just scratched the surface with these kids and their stories,” Ritter says. “By posting a few, we’re hoping to smoke out a few others and start the whole conversation.”

A secondary goal of the campaign is to change the image of 4H among the general population. Because of its roots as a USDA program, the knee-jerk belief of most people is that it’s primarily an agricultural organization. (In fact, some of the members from Portland, Ore. didn’t even know there was an agricultural arm of the 4H program, Ritter says.) By changing this perception, the videos can also help with fundraising, he says.

Videos made by YouTube Partners have been completely trouncing those made by brands and posted on YouTube. That’s right — I said trouncing. Last year, TubeMogul reported that 43% of YouTube’s top 100 videos were from YouTube Partners. Only 4% were uploaded ads.

YouTube opened its Partner Program to its most popular users back in 2007, allowing them to share in the revenue generated by ads placed on their videos. Today, an ever-growing number of YouTube partners make their livings through this program, and because their livelihoods depend on expanding the size of their audiences and getting views, partners have found new and innovative ways to gain exposure.

As an experiment, I took a look at the YouTube Charts to see if I could find any brand videos in the top 20 this month (Spoiler alert: I didn’t.) Other than music videos, Partner videos were the only other videos on the list.

In fact, one partner alone, Ray William Johnson (with a channel of the same name) had six of the top 20 spots. So what are these top YouTube Partners doing so much better than brands? I took a look at the most subscribed-to channels of all time and found three things that brands can start incorporating into their YouTube strategies right away.

Asking for Comments and Ratings. Comments and ratings are forms of engagement in YouTube’s eyes, and videos that get consistent comments and ratings will generally rank better. Partners understand the value of comments and “likes” so they ask for them in their videos. It’s a simple thing to do; however, too many brands treat the end of their videos like the end of a TV commercial: Flash the logo and get out.

Top YouTube Partners don’t just ask viewers to comment, they provide specific questions for their audiences to answer. A fine example of this comes from YouTube’s third most-subscribed-to channel, ShaneDawsonTV. Shane asks a specific question at the end of each of his videos, and viewers flock to the comments section. By just asking for people’s opinions, Shane has elicited more than 70,000 comments for each video. When was the last time a brand video asked for your opinion?

Incorporating Viewer Feedback. As a kid, I loved “Sesame Street.” My favorite part was when a character would talk directly to you and ask you to yell out an answer (usually a letter or a number). I foolishly thought the characters could see directly into my living room and hear my response. At one point I remember yelling out an obviously wrong answer only to have Elmo say, “That’s right! Good job.” It was at that moment I realized that Elmo couldn’t actually hear me.

While you’re still not able to peer into viewers’ living rooms, you can respond to and use viewer feedback in ways that were never possible before. As you engage your audience, you will get posted comments and video responses, sometimes in the form of parodies that can help shape and guide the types of videos you create in the future.

One partner who has this down to a science is YouTube’s second most-subscribed-to channel, RayWilliamJohnson. Ray not only asks his viewers questions, he features his favorite comments at the end of every video.

Viewers commonly send videos to Ray to be featured on his show, and when he does, he gives the senders credit. Viewers subscribe to Ray’s channel not only because he showcases funny videos, but also because their comments and responses may end up being part of the show.

Drive Engagement with Hotspots and Annotations. What happens after a viewer watches one of your videos? Odds are they leave YouTube, hit up the search bar, or watch a related video. What if there was a way to showcase other videos you’ve made and direct viewers to those instead? Enter YouTube annotations and hotspots.

You’ve probably seen YouTube annotations before. They are the sometimes colorful boxes that pop up over your video with text in them (think VH1’s Pop Up Video). These annotations and hotspots can also act as links, and many YouTube Partners have found new and innovative ways to use these to keep their audiences engaged.

Another YouTube Partner, MysteryGuitarMan, creates amazingly edited musical videos that regularly get millions of views. If you watch one of his videos, odds are you’re going to watch another thanks to his clever use of annotations and hotspots.

Joe Penna (the Mystery Guitar Man) uses the last minute or so of his videos to feature viewer comments, ask questions, and link to past videos. For his last video of 2010 he created a clickable menu of all the videos he created in the past year organized by category. All using annotations.

A handful of brands have used annotations to create fun, interactive video experiences, but in general I have not seen brands embrace annotations the way that YouTube Partners have.

All three of these tactics boil down to one thing: engagement. YouTube Partners don’t usually start with any fame, notoriety or large advertising budgets. Instead, they use the tools and equipment available to them to create a community where every video is a touch point.

Acquisition Will Solidify AOL’s Strategy of Creating a Premier Content Network
With Local, National and International Reach

Arianna Huffington To Lead Newly Formed The Huffington Post Media Group Which Will Integrate All Huffington Post and AOL Content, Including News, Tech, Women, Local, Multicultural, Entertainment, Video, Community, and More

The New Combined Media Group Will Reach
117 Million Americans and 270 Million Globally

Group Uniquely Positioned To Redefine the Future of Brand Advertising and Marketing
For an Engaged and Influential Audience

New York, NY – February 7, 2011 – AOL Inc. [NYSE:AOL] announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire The Huffington Post, the influential and rapidly growing news, analysis, and lifestyle website founded in 2005, which now counts nearly 25 million unique monthly visitors*.

The transaction will create a premier global, national, local, and hyper-local content group for the digital age – leveraged across online, mobile, tablet, and video platforms. The combination of AOL’s infrastructure and scale with The Huffington Post’s pioneering approach to news and innovative community building among a broad and sophisticated audience will mark a seminal moment in the evolution of digital journalism and online engagement.

The new group will have a combined base of 117 million unique visitors a month in the United States and 270 million around the world**. Following the close of this transaction, AOL will accelerate its strategy to deliver a scaled and differentiated array of premium news, analysis, and entertainment produced by thousands of writers, editors, reporters, and videographers around the globe.

As part of the transaction, Arianna Huffington, The Huffington Post’s Co-founder and Editor-in-Chief, will be named President and Editor-in-Chief of The Huffington Post Media Group, which will integrate all Huffington Post and AOL content, including Engadget, TechCrunch, Moviefone, MapQuest, Black Voices, PopEater, AOL Music, AOL Latino, AutoBlog, Patch, StyleList, and more.

“The acquisition of The Huffington Post will create a next-generation American media company with global reach that combines content, community, and social experiences for consumers,”said Tim Armstrong, Chairman and CEO of AOL. “Together, our companies will embrace the digital future and become a digital destination that delivers unmatched experiences for both consumers and advertisers.”

Armstrong continued, “Arianna is a singularly passionate and dedicated champion of innovative journalistic engagement, and a master of the art of using new media to illuminate, entertain and enhance the national conversation. Arianna is a remarkable person and she will continue to create remarkable outcomes for the combined company.”

“This is truly a merger of visions and a perfect fit for us,” said Huffington. “The Huffington Post will continue on the same path we have been on for the last six years – though now at light speed – by combining with AOL. Our readers will still be able to come to the Huffington Post at the same URL, and find all the same content they’ve grown to love, plus a lot more – more local, more tech, more entertainment, more finance, and lots more video. We are fusing a legendary and powerful new media brand with a vibrant, innovative news organization, known for its distinctive voice, a highly engaged audience, an expertise in community-building, and a track record for demystifying the news and putting flesh and blood on the data while drawing our audience into the conversation.”

Huffington continued, “By uniting AOL and The Huffington Post, we are creating one of the largest destinations for smart content and community on the Internet. And we intend to keep making it better and better.”

Kenneth Lerer, The Huffington Post’s Co-Founder and Chairman, said, “The Huffington Post team has created a potent brand with the proven track record of knowing how to grow traffic, inform and entertain its readers and build a one-of-a-kind online community. Add that to the powerful scale and resources of AOL and you have the perfect combination for today and the future. Together these two companies will be a premier online content provider. From local citizen reporting through AOL’s Patch, to The Huffington Post’s national reporting on politics, business and culture, consumers will have access to everything they want whenever they want it.”

AOL has agreed to purchase The Huffington Post for $315 million, approximately $300 million of which will be paid in cash funded from cash on hand. The Huffington Post is privately owned by its two cofounders, as well as a group of investors. The proposed transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of government approvals. The boards of directors of each company and shareholders of The Huffington Post have approved the transaction. The transaction is expected to close in the late first- or early second-quarter 2011.

The Huffington Post over-indexes on educated, affluent users, reaching the key decision makers in C-suites around the globe. The Huffington Post speaks to this influential audience via a host of prominent voices on its group blog. Among those who have blogged on The Huffington Post are: President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Larry Page, Diane Sawyer, Buzz Aldrin, Nora Ephron, Bill Maher, Madeleine Albright, Robert Redford, Katie Couric, Neil Young, Rahm Emanuel, Mia Farrow, Senator Russ Feingold, Senator Al Franken, Ari Emanuel, Harry Shearer, Senator John Kerry, Representative Nancy Pelosi, Madonna, Lawrence Summers, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ryan Reynolds, Craig Newmark, Alec Baldwin, Aaron Sorkin, Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Russell Simmons, Sean Penn, Bill Gates, Norman Lear, Charlie Rose, Elizabeth Warren, Tavis Smiley, Sheryl Sandberg, George Clooney, and former President Bill Clinton. And the audience speaks back, generating four million comments a month***.

The Huffington Post’s affluent, influential audience, that is growing at a rate of 22 percent (December 2009 vs. December 2010)****, when combined with AOL’s massive scale, video offerings and local expertise, will represent an incredibly desirable demographic for a broad range of advertising partners across the board.

Conference Call – 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time, Monday, February 7, 2011
AOL will host a conference call with Chairman and CEO of AOL, Tim Armstrong, CFO of AOL, Arthur Minson and The Huffington Post Co-Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Arianna Huffington to discuss the transaction at 8:00 a.m. Eastern time today. To listen to the call via webcast and access prepared remarks regarding the transaction, please visit our website at ir.aol.com and click on the link titled “AOL Inc. Conference Call” located under “Events & Presentations.” The prepared remarks by Arthur Minson regarding the financial impact of AOL’s acquisition of The Huffington Post will be available beginning at 7:00 a.m. Eastern time today. We recommend going to the website at least 15 minutes prior to the start of the webcast to register, download and install any necessary software. Instructions for accessing and registering for the webcast will be available at ir.aol.com beginning today. Visitors will also be able to listen to an archived copy of the webcast at ir.aol.com by clicking into “Events & Presentations” for up to 1 year following the event.

Parties in the United States and Canada should call toll-free (800) 329-9097 and other international parties should call (617) 614-4929. Participants should reference “AOL Call” when dialing into the live call. The conference call is scheduled to begin promptly at its appointed time, and all participants should be on the line by then.

Replays of the conference call will be available at 11:00 a.m. (ET) on Monday, February 7, 2011 and run until 11:59 p.m. (ET) on February 21, 2011. To hear the replay, U.S. and Canadian parties should call toll-free (888) 286-8010 and other international parties should call (617) 801-6888. The access code for the replay is 90388239.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking” statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the anticipated benefits of the transaction, the expected closing date and other statements identified by words such as “may,” “will,” “intend,” “estimate,” “should,” “expect” or similar expressions. These statements are based on the current expectations and beliefs of AOL’s management, and are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances, including, but not limited to, the approval of the transaction by antitrust authorities, the satisfaction of the closing conditions to the transaction, the competitiveness and quality of our combined content offerings and significant competition in the media and journalism industries generally, our ability to timely and successfully integrate The Huffington Post’s operations into our operations, our ability to retain, hire and develop skilled employees and the parties’ performance of their obligations under the agreements. 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 The Huffington Post’s and 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 for the year ended December 31, 2009, filed with the SEC. 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.

# # #

*comScore, December 2010
**comScore, December 2010
***Internal
****comScore

Contacts:
Lauren Hurvitz
AOL
212-206-5020
lauren.hurvitz@teamaol.com

Eoin Ryan
AOL Investor Relations
212-206-5025
Eoin.Ryan@teamaol.com

Mario Ruiz
The Huffington Post
646-274-2439
Mario@huffingtonpost.com