Skip to main content

Google and AOL Ink Five-Year Search Deal

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Internet giant Google and struggling online portal AOL have announced a new five-year deal that will see Google continue to provide search results for AOL’s network of content and services; however, the new deal will be expanded to include mobile search capabilities and YouTube.

Recommended Videos

“Today is another important step in the turnaround of AOL,” said AOL chairman and CEO Tim Armstrong, in a statement. “AOL users will be getting a better search and search ads experience from the best search company in the world—Google.”

Under the new deal, AOL video content will appear on Google’s YouTube video site, and AOL will share revenue with Google from advertisements that appear alongside search results on AOL’s sites. AOL will also bring Google search to mobile platforms as it “renews its focus” on mobile apps and content. Specific financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

For the most part, the agreement perpetuates a deal between the two companies that has been in place since 2005, back when Google put $1 billion into AOL in exchange for a a 5 percent stake in the company. (Time Warner bought out Google’s share of AOL last year for less than a quarter of that price as part of spinning AOL back out into a separate company.)

Topics
Geoff Duncan
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…
Google says quantum computing applications are five years away
Google Quantum chip Willow.

A few weeks ago at CES 2025, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang posited that practical uses of quantum computing were about 20 years away. Today, Google’s head of quantum Hartmut Neven told Reuters that we could see real-world applications of quantum computing within five years. So, who is right?

According to Huang, current quantum systems don’t have enough “qubits.” In fact, they’re short by around five or six orders of magnitude. But why do we need so many? Well, current research suggests that more qubits result in fewer errors, creating more accurate quantum computers. Let's talk about why that is.

Read more
Sundar Pichai says even more AI is coming to Google Search in 2025
Google Search on a laptop

Google will continue to go all in on AI in 2025, CEO Sundar Pichai announced during the company's Q4 earnings call Wednesday. Alphabet shares have since dropped more than 7% on news that the company giant fell short of fourth-quarter revenue expectations and announced an ambitious spending plan for its AI development.

"As AI continues to expand the universe of queries that people can ask, 2025 is going to be one of the biggest years for search innovation yet,” he said during the call. Pichai added that Search is on a “journey” from simply presenting a list of links to offering a more Assistant-like experience. Whether users actually want that, remains to be seen.

Read more
Get ready: Google Search may bring a pure ‘AI mode’ to counter ChatGPT
AI Overviews being shown in Google Search.

It is match point Google as the tech giant prepares to introduce a new “AI Mode” for its search engine, which will allow users to transition into an atmosphere that resembles the Gemini AI chatbot interface.

According to a report from The Information, Google will add an AI Mode tab to the link options in its search results, where the “All,” “Images,” “Videos,” and “Shopping” options reside. The AI Mode would make Google search more accessible and intuitive for users, allowing them to “ask follow-up” questions pertaining to the links in the results via a chatbot text bar, the publication added.

Read more