AOL Canada Relaunches AOL.ca with E-mail and Social Networking Aggregation

AOL Canada Introduces New Portal That Offers Easy Access to Multiple Services from One Convenient Location

TORONTO, ON . – AOL Canada today announced the launch of its new homepage, http://www.aol.ca, which lets consumers access multiple e-mail accounts and social networking services from a single online destination. The new AOL.ca homepage will also be opened to third-party services and content, providing consumers with new customization options while offering advertisers new opportunities to tap into an increasingly engaged audience.

The improved homepage is part of the ongoing strategy from AOL’s publishing division to expand globally, including the launches in Canada of women’s lifestyle site That’s Fit (http://www.thatsfit.ca), which focuses on improving body, mind and relationships, and AOL Music blog Spinner Canada (http://www.spinner.ca), which showcases exclusive content on the Canadian music scene.

The new homepage’s design and features have already proven a success in the U.S., with the relaunch of the AOL.com homepage in September 2008 growing 23% in unique visitors, 34% in total page views and 61% in total minutes consumed year over year,* and the AOL.ca page builds on the success of the recent UK beta launch of the AOL.co.uk homepage. Today’s launch in Canada will feature the same new tools as in the U.S. and UK, allowing users to further personalize and control their online experience, from display and design to navigation, news feed options and social media.

“With today’s Internet ever-expanding and consumers engaging in multiple social networking platforms, it is essential that their experience on the Web is both personalized and integrated,” said Edward Kwan, Senior Director of AOL Canada. “The launch of the new AOL Canada portal follows the tremendous successes we’ve experienced in both the U.S. and the UK, enabling exciting new opportunities for the Canadian market. In terms of advertising, Platform-A Canada will now have the capability to expand its reach across more relevant and media-rich content and channels.”

Some of the innovative features added include AOL Canada users being able to check their Google Mail, Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail, in addition to their AOL Mail e-mail accounts, as well as staying in touch with their online buddies via AOL’s AIM service. From the AOL.ca homepage, users will also be able to post status updates to multiple social networks, and access profile activity information, including new friend requests and mail notifications, from services such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, AIM, Bebo and other third-party sites in the future.

AOL Canada’s new homepage offers advertisers ad formats and capabilities including rich media options and content integration opportunities.

In support of the new launch, Pepsi is the primary sponsor of a homepage takeover on June 29 and 30, promoting their Project Breathtaking campaign. This includes 100% ownership of the new 300x600 and 408x80 ad placements.

Other new AOL.ca homepage features include:

* Customized backgrounds with multiple new designs from which to choose;
* Ability to add any customized links to the homepage so users can more easily access their most frequently visited sites;
* Users can drag and drop to reorder channel navigation to suit personal preferences;
* Users can add RSS feeds and personalized categories to get content from their preferred external sites.

The new AOL.ca homepage advances AOL Canada’s strategy of connecting people with their passion points by opening up to third-party content and services, providing consumers with new customization options and creating new opportunities for advertisers to tap into an increasingly engaged audience. For more advertising information, go to http://www.platform-a.ca.

* comScore Media Metrix, May, 2009.