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THE MONEY SHOT
Not Just a Content Play: AOL Opens Services SidelineMonday, June 20, 2011 While the digerati snipe and dicker over whether AOL should have acquired the Huffington Post and what  direction it is taking as a content-centric company, the brand is also developing other business lines. To wit, late last week, AOL launched the Lifestore.com, a direct sales site offering subscription services like anti-virus protection, weight-loss plans and online learning. From Suzanne Somers' “Sexy Forever” diet to identity theft protection, Lifestore aggregates over 30 products across tech, family, wellness and learning categories.Lifestore.com promotes itself as a curated subscription services source. The company is partnering with such third-party vendors as MacAfee and Jillian Michaels. The effort embodies the turn to e-commerce and particularly subscription-structured services in the media industry. Many of the major magazine branded women’s service sites have increased their integration of e-commerce offerings in the last year, and some have erected co-branded stores. Getting a piece of the massive e-commerce revenue stream has become a priority among content providers in recent years. But even more than offer third-party prodcuts, AOL has also launched its own branded service, AOL TechGuru. The subscription-based product gives consumers their own tech support to help them fix, set up and support their computers and devices. Experts help diagnose and repair the technology over the phone or by remote linking to the user’s computer. The service is offered with on/off and subscription pricing, from a one-time $19.99 fee to fix most small computer problems to $59.99 to set up new equipment or $20 a month is persistent tech support for individuals or $27.50 a month for small businesses. While AOL has struggled in the years since its spin-off from Time Warner to find a direction for its content and business models, the conglomeration of brands like Engadget and Moviefone continue to command one of the largest aggregate audiences online. AOL has proven itself adept at turning that traffic hose onto new projects and generating substantial audiences for them quickly. With Lifestore and AOL TechGuru, however, the company appears to be hoping to draw direct revenues from that aggregation power.
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