gregtyree.com

I didn’t see this coming but today AOL announced they purchased Bebo for $850 million.

Rumors had floated over the past few months that Bebo, which has over 40 million members, was up for sale. Reports suggested a $1 billion price tag, but there were few hints as to potential buyers. Though Bebo had already partnered with AOL’s AIM messaging client to facilitate friend-invite interoperability between the two services, even the most creative blogger speculation didn’t seem to point to AOL eventually buying the social network.

The story goes on to say this was all about advertising but I can’t help but wonder if this was an indirect play to make AOL look a little more attractive to its own potential buyers (or partners). Either way the younger audience that comes with Bebo will help AOL.