Revenue for AOL’s advertising dropped 6% in the third quarter of 2008. Total revenues for AOL dropped 17% but that’s primarily due to declining subscription rates.
AOL is in the midst of a business model shift – from one based on internet access subscriptions to one based on advertising. That shift, of course, is coming at quite the rough economic patch for the country in general.
AOL is also looking into joining forces with Yahoo, who also posted dismal Q3 results. Both companies expect Q4 to be even worse.
Google trounces Yahoo and Bing when it comes to ad impressions and CTR, but the numbers are much closer than they were three years ago. Less competition - and lower CPC - is definitely a factor.
