AOL revenue down 4%, but beats analysts’ expectations
AOL’s first-quarter revenue fell 4% to $529.4 million, beating analysts’ average forecast of $526.5 million. Total ad revenue was up 5% on growth in third-party network ads and international growth, reports Jennifer Saba, but display advertising fell 1%.
Peter Kafka notes:
AOL’s dialup unit, which still powers the whole operation, continues to shrink … that archaic business lost 14% of its subscribers in the last year.
As for Patch, the hyperlocal sites “grew traffic and advertisers over 40% year-over-year and revenue over 100% year-over-year,” says AOL’s press release. Of course, it’s not hard to achieve those percentage growths when the numbers are low.
Meanwhile, Pando Daily reports AOL is seeking buyers for TechCrunch and Engadget — it would be a package deal — and is asking $70 million to $100 million for the sites. “Our sources are unaware of any serious bidders right now, but there’s been plenty of flirting with the idea,” reports Pando. (UPDATE: That’s “100 percent untrue,” says AOL CEO Tim Armstrong.)
* AOL quarterly profit beats expectations, display ads dip (Reuters)
* A disappointing ad number for AOL (All Things D) || AOL press release
* AOL seeking buyers for Engadget and TechCrunch, Arrington isn’t interested (Pando Daily)
