AOL to expand European advertising business

By Kenneth Li

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Time Warner Inc's AOL plans to expand its Internet advertising business, Platform-A, in Europe as it aims to stake a bigger claim in the global display ad business.

By the end of next year, Platform-A, AOL's one-stop online advertising shop, is expected to be available in the rest of the world, the company said.

Brendan Condon, previously the head of the international division of Advertising.com ad network, has been appointed head of Platform-A International, the company said.

It was not immediately clear how many more employees AOL planned to hire, but the company said it will open advertising offices in regions where it currently operates websites, such as Belgium, Switzerland, and Austria.

In the United States, AOL's Platform-A was the top display advertising network in April, reaching 89 percent of the online audience or about 171 million unique visitors, according to comScore Media Metrix.

Platform-A currently reaches about half, or 125 million, of Europe's online consumers, the company said.

The expansion is an extension of its work in the United States to integrate a broad portfolio of advertising properties to be able to offer advertisers a suite of services.

Although there are no current plans to sell the online division of Time Warner, the company has held various discussions with Microsoft Corp and Yahoo Inc over merging its AOL division as it struggles to boost its ad sales.

AOL has purchased and operates companies that serve European advertisers. But they operate mostly independently of each other.

In February, AOL purchased buy.at, an online affiliate marketing network based in London. Last year, it purchased Frankfurt-based Adtech AG, which provides technology that lets website publishers manage and report on their Internet ad campaigns.

AOL also currently operates sites in 13 European countries including the United Kingdom and Poland.

Condon, who will report to Platform-A President Lynda Clarizio, will be based in London.

Dana Dunne will remain the head of AOL Europe, overseeing its sites in Europe.

(Editing by Leslie Gevirtz)