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Web Marketing Breaking News
Google / AOL Strengthen Relationship

Posted on October 6, 2003

DULLES, Va. & MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 7, 2003--
Companies Strengthen Alliance, AOL Adds New Features To Integrated AOL(R) Sarch Service, Providing AOL Members Smarter, More Intuitive Search Experience

America Online, Inc., the world's leading interactive services company, and Google, developer of the award-winning Google search engine, today announced an expanded multi-year alliance for AOL(R) Search that will bring members search results from the industry-leading Google search engine as well as Google's highly relevant sponsored links. America Online today also announced a series of enhancements to AOL Search to provide a more intuitive search experience.

"As we expand our agreement with Google, we're continuing to innovate our integrated AOL Search service to help members zero in faster on exactly what they are looking for," said David Gang, Executive Vice President of AOL Products. "By offering best-of-breed search from Google together with the ability to search all of AOL, we're giving our members what they've told us they want most: quick, direct access to relevant results. More than 75% of AOL members use AOL Search each month, and Google's award-winning search function and targeted paid search listings have proven extremely popular with our users."

Under the new multi-year agreement between America Online and Google, tens of millions of users of America Online's brands will have increased access to Google's wide index of billions of documents, through Google's advanced search technology. As previously announced, Google is also available within the search areas of the AOL service in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Netherlands, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Japan, Australia and Canada. In addition, Google provides relevant sponsored links within the search areas of the AOL service in Japan and Canada.

In addition, the companies have extended their marketing agreement, enabling Google to continue providing AOL and CompuServe members and users of AOL.COM and Netscape its targeted paid search listings product, which offers a selection of listings ranked by relevancy and other factors, from Google's rapidly growing base of advertisers, now more than 150,000 worldwide. As part of this extension, Google now provides relevant sponsored links on the business listings and directories of the AOL Yellow Pages.

"We're very pleased that we have expanded our relationship with America Online, the world's leader in interactive services," said Sergey Brin, Google's Co-Founder and President of Technology. "Google is committed to working with America Online to help enhance the overall experience for the millions of AOL members and users around the world by enabling them to find the information and services they need."

New Features in AOL Search

America Online also announced a variety of improved search capabilities. The new, enhanced AOL Search is an integral part of the AOL(R) and AOL(R) for Broadband services, including the latest version, AOL(R) 9.0 Optimized. AOL Search delivers Google search results plus a powerful layer of uniquely relevant, timely, localized content and programming from across the AOL service. This value-add layer is programmed by AOL Search editors to provide a smarter and more intuitive online search experience to help AOL members find what they are looking for faster and more easily.

Among the enhancements America Online has made to AOL Search are:

-- New Smart box search tool - as members type a search query into the AOL 9.0 Optimized quickstart toolbar field, AOL Search automatically presents relevant choices and suggestions - such as Keywords, Web sites and company information.

-- New navigation tabs - let members quickly access Web sites, Images, and AOL Communities that match their query. From the new People Search tab, members can find topic-specific AOL Chat Rooms, Message Boards, Home Pages and Groups that match their interests.

-- Enhanced local searching capabilities - allow members to quickly find local businesses, services or national chain stores. At the top of the results page, they will get a personalized list of the relevant businesses closest to them based on the zip code they have on file with AOL.

-- Enhanced music/entertainment programming - allows members to search tens of thousands of enhanced listings for their favorite music artists to hear their latest single, see their latest video and much more.

-- Hot Searches - a new programming feature that presents search topics gaining in popularity on the AOL service in real time. Members can browse a range of topics or select topics from a single channel, such as Music.

-- Ultra-fast pages mean less time waiting for results.

-- AOL Search has also made numerous improvements based on member requests to make search results pages easier to scan, with a larger font size for text and bolded search terms, as well as a new "Open a Window" feature allows members to view more pages. By clicking on the "Open a Window" icon they can open a new Web site while keeping the results page and other Web sites open. In addition, with AOL's Web Pop-Up Blocker, AOL members can take control when searching the Web on AOL by blocking most Internet popups.

Central to the AOL Search design is the way it presents the best of AOL and the Web with local, timely and relevant search results, along with exclusive content, right at top of the search results pages. For example, if a member is looking for a plumber, they'll first see relevant links to plumbers in their area; when searching for breaking news stories about people or events, links to headlines from leading news outlets are presented. In addition to Web results from Google, AOL Search gives members a one-stop place from which to find contextual results from across the AOL service -- whether they're looking for an Internet site, news, images and people, local resources and AOL(R) Yellow Pages listings, movies, stock quotes, maps and directions, and more.

AOL Search is available from a number of convenient entry points on the AOL service, including the AOL Client toolbar, the Welcome Screen, contextual links within content and programming areas, as well as from the AOL(R) Companion, which allows members to find information online quickly when using another application.

About Google

Google's innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google's targeted advertising program, which is the largest and fastest growing in the industry, provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. For more information, visit www.google.com.

About America Online

America Online, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of AOL Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:AOL). Based in Dulles, Virginia, America Online is the world's leader in interactive services, Web brands, Internet technologies and e-commerce services.

Google is a trademark of Google Inc. All other company and product names maybe trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.