Time Warner has agreed to sell a 5 percent stake in America Online to Google for $1 billion as part of an expanded partnership between AOL, once the dominant company on the Internet, and Google, reports The New York Times.
While the deal terms are largely set, it will not be final until it is ratified by the Time Warner board on Tuesday, according to an executive who was briefed on the negotiations.
According to Search Engine Watch:
If Gates and Ballmer wanted a deal with AOL (Time Warner) for Christmas it appears that they’re not going to get it. The MSFT vs. GOOG game of the Price is Right appears to be ending according to this just posted story from the Wall Street Journal: AOL Nears Deal With Google (sub req).
Here are a few key facts and passages from the article by Julia Angwin, Kevin J. Delaney and Dennis K. Berman:
- AOL and Google are now in “exclusive negotiations.” Microsoft has been “shut out” of the negotiations at this point.
- Don’t look for a deal and announcement until next week after a Time-Warner board meeting on Wednesday.
From the article:
A person close to the situation says the deal being negotiated would allow AOL to sell advertising among the search results provided by Google on its Web properties. Google is also likely to promote AOL’s Web properties among the sponsored links in its search results.
The Google-AOL talks would expand on a relationship which analysts estimate account for 2 percent to 4 percent of Google’s revenue on a net basis. AOL uses Google’s search engine, and Microsoft had been negotiating to get AOL to use its search technology instead.
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