SAI: AOL in a Death Spiral

Are AOL’s days numbered? Silicon Alley Insider seems to think so, and it’s difficult to argue with the logic: ad revenue fell 6 percent year-over-year compared to its competitors (which all increased), its Platform A ad revenue is stalled and has lower profit margins, and AOL’s premium ad inventory is also falling.

They also have a big image problem. “The fundamental problem here is that there really isn’t an ‘AOL’ anymore: The division is just a collection of quasi-related online assets such as AOL.com, AIM, MapQuest, TMZ, Weblogs, Platform A, and an ISP,” the report said. “If Time Warner can’t sell the whole thing as a unit, it should probably begin to dismantle it and sell it piece by piece.”

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