Aol

Whatever the ultimate impact of AOL's $315-million acquisition of the Huffington Post on the new-media landscape, it's already clear that the merger will push more journalists more deeply into the tragically expanding low-wage sector of our increasingly brutal economy. That's a development that will hurt not only the people who gather and edit the news but also readers and viewers. To understand why, it's helpful to step back from the wide-eyed coverage focused on foundering AOL's last-ditch effort to stave off the oblivion of irrelevance, or Brentwood-based Arianna Huffington's astonishing commercial achievement in taking her Web news portal from startup to commercial success in less than six years.

Google Inc.'s YouTube announced the launch of a new channel devoted to women in advance of a presentation to advertisers and brands, concluding a two-week-long series of marketing pitches by the leading distributors of online entertainment. "Black Swan" executive producer Jon Avnet and "Albert Nobs" director Rodrigo Garcia joined together to create WIGS, a YouTube channel of original scripted dramas and short films about women. Avnet and actress Virginia Madsen, who is best known for her role as Maya in the 2004 film "Sideways," were expected to take the stage Wednesday at New York's Beacon Theatre to tout the partnership with YouTube.

Arianna Huffington is selling the Huffington Post to AOL Inc. for $315 million. The deal, which Huffington announced on her blog on the Huffington Post website and AOL announced in a news release, will move the co-founder of the news site to the position of president and editor in chief of a new Huffington Post Media Group division at AOL. The purchase will increase AOL's news portfolio as it competes against Yahoo's growing online news publication...

NEW YORK - Yahoo Inc.staged its glitzy presentation for advertisers in a theater near Central Park, with appearances by Katie Couric, "CSI" creator Anthony E. Zuiker and, via video, Tom Hanks. AOL Inc.rented out a three-story production studio in the gentrified Meatpacking District, which it filled with pounding dance tracks as gym-sculpted servers carried trays of beverages and snacks. A series of celebrity-studded presentations concluded with 1970s TV star Marlo Thomas taking the stage as AOL awarded prizes, including a new Ford Mustang convertible.

It used to be "You've got mail. " Now it's becoming "You've got news. " With the $315-million purchase of the Huffington Post, a 5-year-old news and politics website run by political pundit Arianna Huffington, AOL Inc. is making its biggest bet yet that it can reinvent itself as a must-read source for online news, gossip and opinion. AOL, the Internet company that helped popularize e-mail, has seen its once-massive dial-up business dwindle to nearly one-tenth the number of subscribers it had in its heyday.

Internet company AOL Inc. says its fourth-quarter net income grew from a year-ago period weighed down by hefty restructuring costs, but revenue fell sharply on weak advertising sales. The company sought to reassure investors that its turnaround is well on its way toward fruition and said it will start to see growth in the second half of the year. "A year ago we were dealing with a 'sick company' and laying off 30 percent of our work force," said CEO Tim Armstrong in a conference call with analysts on Wednesday.

AOL's surprising sale of 800 patents to Microsoft for about $1.06 billion gives the company a cash infusion that Wall Street seems to like. Although neither company is saying what the patents cover, what Microsoft actually bought was leverage. "Patents are nothing but a license to sue," to exclude others, said Alexander Poltorak, chairman and chief executive of General Patent Corp. A license to sue, but an opportunity to strike a deal. "Only [between] 3 and 4% of patent lawsuits end up in trial," with most ending up in an arrangement beneficial to both companies, he said.

AOL Inc. officially confirmed that Michael Arrington, founder and co-editor of TechCrunch, no longer works for the company or the popular technology blog. The formal announcement of his departure was made after two weeks of bickering between Arrington and AOL over his role at TechCrunch. Critics had questioned whether Arrington should continue as an editor after being named to head CrunchFund, a $20-million venture capital fund that might invest in companies that TechCrunch writes about.

AOL said Thursday that it planned to reduce its workforce by a third over the next several months. The New York company, which employs about 6,900 people, is hoping to get as many as 2,500 workers to participate in a "voluntary layoff" program in early December. For the time being, AOL is part of Time Warner, though the media giant is scheduled to spin off the former dial-up Internet powerhouse into a separate company Dec. 9. Chief Executive Tim Armstrong announced the latest round of restructuring Thursday morning.

I fear that Lawrence Grobel is celebrating his freedom from AOL much too soon ("Mission Impossible," Essay, Jan. 8). He may never truly be free because he will be on the AOL mailing list from now until eternity. After I quit years ago, the onslaught of mail exasperated me to the point that I mailed a written request to be removed from the list. No such luck. Nicole Manzo Los Angeles

SAN FRANCISCO -- Microsoft, which just bought patents from AOL for more than $1 billion, is now selling most of them to Facebook for $550 million. The two companies said Monday that Facebook is buying about 650 of the 925 patents and patent applications. Facebook will get a license to use the rest of the patents. Microsoft will also get a license to use the patents that Facebook is buying. “Today's agreement with Microsoft represents an important acquisition for Facebook,” said Ted Ullyot, Facebook's general counsel, in a written statement.

AOL's surprising sale of 800 patents to Microsoft for about $1.06 billion gives the company a cash infusion that Wall Street seems to like. Although neither company is saying what the patents cover, what Microsoft actually bought was leverage. "Patents are nothing but a license to sue," to exclude others, said Alexander Poltorak, chairman and chief executive of General Patent Corp. A license to sue, but an opportunity to strike a deal. "Only [between] 3 and 4% of patent lawsuits end up in trial," with most ending up in an arrangement beneficial to both companies, he said.

The economy may be recovering, employers may be starting to hire again, but this probably isn't the best time to send your resume to Yahoo. The once-mighty Internet company says it's laying off 2,000 employees, or about 14% of its workers, as the new chief exec, Scott Thompson, attempts a sweeping reinvention of the search giant. Yahoo figures the cuts will save about $375 million annually. This is the company's sixth mass firing in the past four years under three different chief executives.

AOL has recruited some Hollywood heavyweights to revitalize its struggling year-old online entertainment site Cambio, aimed at teens and young adults — a demographic coveted by advertisers. Reality television producer Mark Burnett and director McG, best known for the "Charlie's Angels" movies and NBC's spy comedy "Chuck," will create original Web shows with production spending as big as any prime-time series. AOL and its investment partners — brand strategist MGX Lab and Jonas Group, which manages such musical acts as the Jonas Brothers, Demi Lovato and Jordin Sparks — are betting that recognizable screenwriters, actors and directors are the digital catnip needed to draw a greater share of the 49 million people ages 12 to 24 who go online.

AOL Inc. officially confirmed that Michael Arrington, founder and co-editor of TechCrunch, no longer works for the company or the popular technology blog. The formal announcement of his departure was made after two weeks of bickering between Arrington and AOL over his role at TechCrunch. Critics had questioned whether Arrington should continue as an editor after being named to head CrunchFund, a $20-million venture capital fund that might invest in companies that TechCrunch writes about.

AOL Inc., which is struggling to halt a sales slide, said Thursday that it retained investment bank Allen & Co. and law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz as advisors. Its stock jumped. Graham James, a spokesman for New York-based AOL, confirmed the hiring of the firms but declined to comment further. AOL has posted losses of almost $800 million in less than two years as a stand-alone company as it has struggled to make money from online advertising and its profitable dial-up Internet business has become increasingly obsolete.

AOL souped up its Hollywood ambitions Wednesday by asking the former head of the William Morris Agency to leave his board seat in order to become a strategic consultant for the online media company. Jim Wiatt, who has been on AOL's board for a year, will step down to spend most of his time using his clout in the media business to help the company develop star-branded online video content and court major advertisers. Wiatt left William Morris before it merged with another talent agency, Endeavor, last year.

Slacker Inc., a San Diego-based digital music service, has ousted CBS Radio in a multiyear deal to deliver online radio to AOL Inc.'s 6 million listeners. The agreement, announced Tuesday and scheduled to take effect later this summer, will more than double Slacker's audience of 5 million monthly users. Slacker's listeners are just a fraction of the 34 million people a month who tune in mostly for free to Pandora, a rival Internet radio service whose parent company began selling shares on the New York Stock Exchange two weeks ago. Unlike Pandora, which makes most of its money from selling ads, Slacker has focused on getting its listeners to pay for its premium subscription services.

Bob Pittman, best known for his stints as the founder of MTV, the president of AOL Inc. when it was still called American Online, and the chief executive of Six Flags Entertainment Corp., has coasted over to Clear Channel Communications Inc. as the radio conglomerate's chairman of media and entertainment platforms. For the 57-year-old New York-based executive, the move in November to the nation's largest radio broadcaster was not so much a stretch into yet another entertainment medium as a return to his roots.