AOL Acquires Widget Ad Company Goowy Media

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 4, 2008 - 9:03am.

Dulles, Va. - Looking to further expand on its online advertising strategy, AOL (NYSE: TWX) said on Monday that it has acquired San Diego-based Goowy Media, the developer of a technology platform and related analytics tools for widget creation, syndication and reporting. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Goowy, which previously had developed widgets for myAOL, will operate as a unit of AOL in its Products division.

For AOL, which has refocused its business plan around its Platform A online advertising business, the centerpiece of the acquisition is the company's widget-based advertising tool, which allows users to create rich media ads featuring real-time content.

"The platform and services we've built are an obvious fit with AOL's ad-supported Web strategy," said Alex Bard, the CEO of Goowy.