AOL

AOL Media LLC is a American web portal and former online service provider based in New York City. It is owned by Bending Spoons. AOL traces its history to PlayNET, an online service. PlayNET licensed its software to Quantum Link, which went online in November 1985. An IBM PC compatible client was launched in 1988. The service was renamed as America Online in 1989. AOL grew to become the largest online service, ahead of established players CompuServe and Prodigy. By 1995, AOL had about three million active users. AOL was at one point the most recognized Internet-related brand in the United States. AOL was an internet service provider and once provided dial-up Internet access to millions of Americans and pioneered chat rooms and instant messaging with AOL Instant Messenger. In 1998, AOL purchased Netscape for US$4.2 billion. As of 2000, AOL was providing internet service to over 20 million consumers. In 2001, at the height of its popularity, it purchased Time Warner for stock in the largest merger in US history. AOL shrank rapidly thereafter, partly due to the decline of dial-up Internet access and the rise of broadband.