IP Democracy: WSJ: Google Triumphs Over Microsoft in AOL Talks

According to the Wall Street Journal, Google has triumphed over Microsoft in talks to gain a deal with AOL. The news is so fresh that the WSJ hasn’t even posted a full article, simply a news alert that says “Time Warner has entered exclusive talks with Google over a stake in AOL, apparently shutting out Microsoft and other suitors.”

That’s great news for the search giant — at stake for Google was the potential loss of around 10% to 14% of its annual revenues, or about $500 mil. (The timing is good — over at IP Media Monitor we just released a report on Google’s Television 2.0 efforts.)

More later.

Update: Here’s the full article on WSJ.com (sorry it’s behind a firewall). The deal purportedly calls for AOL to sell advertising on some of the search results provided by Google. Google in turn will promote AOL’s properties in its sponsored links. And Reuters has an item on the talks.

Update on Update: A more complete WSJ piece says that Google is paying $1 billion for a 5% stake in AOL, giving the online company a total valuation of $20 billion.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on December 16, 2005 12:34 PM to IP Democracy