***America Online (NYSE: AOL), the largest online service with over 13 million members, continues to position itself to push its wildly successful strategy into new markets. For some time, there has been speculation that AOL would move beyond the modem access market with investments in cable technology. It now is apparent that their aspirations are much greater than different forms of access.
In the past month, AOL has registered countless new domain names. Included in those new registrations are AOLAnywhere.com, AmericaOnlineTV.com, ShopAOL.com, AOLStudios.com, AOLProductions.com, and even AdultAmericaOnline.com.
Is America Online losing its focus, or are they scared that the Internet will displace them? Certainly not, AOL's savvy management is simply taking advantage of a now household name. Most American's still have not heard of Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN), the supposed future Wal-Mart of the Internet, but ShopAOL.com would surely ring some bells. Why use Yahoo's free mail when I can access AOLAnywhere.com. How about a round the clock interactive TV channel, AmericaOnlineTV.com seems to fit the bill. AOLStudios and AOLProductions will likely become the authorities in online content development.
America Online is making it apparent that they are not just another Internet service provider. AOL is a household name that seeks to exploit their status. During the next 24-36 months we may witness the formation of a new technology gorilla as America Online captures a market.***
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