14 May Verizon and AOL; The New Age of Mobile Ads
Unless you have been living under a rock the past few days, you are aware that Verizon Wireless just bought AOL Inc. for 4.4 billion dollars. Is this more of the retro, let’s go “90’s” culture trend? What’s going on?
If you’re asking yourself why the largest cell phone company in the U.S. would buy an organization known for its dial-up Internet, you’re not alone.
But that’s not the whole story.
AOL has actually come a long way since you probably last remember hearing that wonderful “You’ve Got Mail” tone. In 2000 they merged with Time Warner, in 2007 got an ex-Google exec to run things, and bought The Huffington Post in 2011. While they have remained in the shadows they have also made some great strides in terms of online digital content.
And this is precisely what Verizon wants. (muhaha).
The world of advertising and media is changing. Smartphones are the new televisions; even replacing computer sales in many parts of the country. As the target market transitions to smaller more mobile devices, advertising needs to transition with it. As AOL’s CEO was quoted saying, “If there is one key to our journey to building the largest digital media platform in the world, it is mobile.”
Verizon knows this and wants to start their move.
The popular belief in the industry is that Verizon will use AOL to bring original content to it’s subscribers. What comes with this content you ask? Advertisements. Not just any pop-up, Youtube spot, or cookie, but specific mobile targeted ads. That is the future of the ad world.
Verizon and AOL will most likely use each other as a two way street, sharing content and consumer information to drive the business. They just have to compete with Facebook and Google who collectively hold more than 55% of the worldwide mobile ad market.
Lets see, maybe you’re reading this on your phone right now with a targeted, geo-located, specific ad hovering on screen.
Who knows what the future brings. We can now imagine a world where advertising and content are so interrelated that consumers cannot tell the difference.