AOL has been attempting a transition to content-based business model and while it has definitely helped the company find a focus area for the future, the revenues are hard to come by. According to the recent quarterly revenue report filed by the company, the revenues have been gradually falling and the company that made over $1 billion in revenue back in Q1 2008 has barely crossed the $500 million mark this time around. The company is clearly dependent on advertising revenues as the report shows. Close to 50% of AOL’s quarterly revenues are from advertising – a good chunk of it from display advertisements.
Here is the quarterly breakdown of AOL’s revenues. The money made from advertising in each of these quarters is provided inside brackets.
Q1 ’08 : $1.116 billion ($540 million)
Q2 ’08 : $1.043 billion ($517 million)
Q3 ’08 : $991 million ($487 million)
Q4 ’08 : $961 million ($500 million)
Q1 ’09 : $855 million ($432 million)
Q2 ’09 : $792 million ($407 million)
Q3 ’09 : $764 million ($402 million)
Q4 ’09 : $796 million ($459 million)
Q1 ’10 : $655 million ($346 million)
Q2 ’10 : $584 million ($297 million)