AOL Acquisition of Bebo Social Networking Site Complete [Becomes Centrepiece of AOL’s People Networks]

AOL have just announced that it has now completed its well publicised acquisition of the Bebo social networking site which will now become the centrepiece of AOL’s People Networks business unit which already includes AIM, ICQ. And has a user base of some 80 million worldwide.

“With the addition of Bebo and the creation of People Networks, AOL is uniquely positioned to capitalize on the exploding social media space by delivering a more personal experience for consumers and a better way for advertisers to engage them,” said Randy Falco, Chairman and CEO of AOL. “AOL is now fully focused on growing our business in three key areas – our advertising network, publishing and people networks – by delivering relevant content and advertising across the Web, and we’re making great progress in each area.”

Billed as being a brand that ‘enables advertisers, brands and media companies to engage in meaningful, relevant conversations with its users’, Bebo is reported to have cost AOL around $850 million though, at the time or writing, there’s no confirmation as to whether users will be unceremoniously logged off at random thus making Bebo a truly AOL experience (certainly in keeping with our experience with AOL before we left).