AOL Surpasses 18 Million Members;Combined AOL and CompuServe Membership Exceeds 20 Million
August 17, 1999 08:29 AM
DULLES, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 17, 1999--America Online, Inc. AOL , the world's leading interactive services company, today announced that worldwide membership of its AOL service has exceeded 18 million.
The Company said that AOL's membership growth is ahead of last summer's pace, and member retention has continued to improve. The membership climb between 17 million and 18 million members took 125 days.
That compares favorably to last summer's pace of growth when it took 133 days to add 1 million members to reach 13 million members on August 27, 1998. Over the past year, AOL has added more than 5 million members.
Contributing to high member growth is AOL's strong growth in its usage metrics, as the service becomes more deeply embedded in its members' everyday lives. The improved metrics include (compared to one year ago):
-- 1.1 million simultaneous users at peak times (compared to 718,000
one year ago); -- 67 million e-mails sent daily (34 million a year ago); -- Nearly 475 million instant messages sent per day (283 million a
year ago); -- More than 150 million stock quotes daily (75 million a year ago); -- 2.9 billion Web URLs served a day (1 billion); and -- More than 10 million members are now shopping online, including
4.7 million who this year shopped online for the first time.
In addition, more than 50% of AOL accounts now log on at least five days weekly and nearly one-third (29%) are using the service every day of the week.
The Company also said that CompuServe, positioned as a value brand, is experiencing the strongest membership growth since being acquired, with its current PC rebate offers for CompuServe 2000 exceeding expectations.
Bob Pittman, America Online's President and Chief Operating Officer, said: "We are extremely pleased with the continued record growth in AOL's membership. This membership milestone is strong evidence that AOL is, by far and away, the preeminent mass market interactive brand. And CompuServe's growth into this quarter underscores its success as the leading brand in the value market segment."
Mr. Pittman added: "We think AOL's momentum will continue this fall with the launch of our next-generation client, AOL 5.0. With unmatched personalization features and benefits like 'You've Got Pictures!,' 'My Calendar,' 'AOL Plus,' and 'Shop@AOL' -- the most convenient and rewarding shopping experience in cyberspace -- we believe AOL 5.0 will be a great hit with mass market consumers. Like our past software upgrades, we think AOL 5.0 will be a catalyst for membership growth, time spent online, member retention, and e-commerce."
About America Online, Inc.
Founded in 1985, America Online, Inc., based in Dulles, Virginia, is the world's leader in interactive services, Web brands, Internet technologies, and e-commerce services.
America Online, Inc. operates: two worldwide Internet services, America Online, with more than 18 million members, and CompuServe, with approximately 2 million members; several leading Internet brands including ICQ, AOL Instant Messenger and Digital City, Inc.; the Netscape Netcenter and AOL.COM portals; the Netscape Navigator and Communicator browsers; AOL MovieFone, the nation's No. 1 movie listing guide and ticketing service; and Spinner Networks and NullSoft, Inc., leaders in Internet music.
Through its strategic alliance with Sun Microsystems, the Company develops and offers easy-to-deploy, end-to-end e-commerce and enterprise solutions for companies operating in the Net Economy.
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