AOL’s social networking site Bebo may soon be joining the dead pool or if AOL is lucky enough it may be joining another company. According to a memo by AOL Ventures EVP Jon Brod, AOL admits that social networking is a very competitive space on the web which AOL found difficult to compete with its own social networking site – Bebo.
The memo also stated that AOL is currently not in the position to continue funding and supporting Bebo as it requires significant investment to compete with social networking giants.
“AOL is committed to working quickly to determine if there are any interested parties for Bebo and the company’s current expectation is to complete our strategic evaluation by the end of May 2010.”
Bebo was acquired by AOL sometime in 2008 for $850 million. Back then AOL was still with Time Warner which later on part ways with AOL, leaving the company all alone in financing Bebo’s operations.
Since then Bebo’s site visits continue to slide down, thanks to the popularity of Facebook and Twitter.
The question now is, would there still be an interested buyer and if yes, can AOL sell Bebo at a price that it paid for the site in 2008?
