Why Verizon Bought AOL to Achieve Domination

For consumers, AOL and its "You've Got Mail" catchphrase may dredge up memories of the 1990s Web -- but for Verizon, the path into new businesses AOL offers is worth $4.4 billion. Verizon announced early on Tuesday that it would acquire the company, and AOL CEO Tim Armstrong explained his rationale during a CNBC "Squawk Box" interview, saying, "We've made AOL as big as it can possibly be in today's landscape. But if you look forward five years, you're going to be in a space where there are going to be massive, global-scale networks." Though consumers may think of AOL as an aging Internet portal, the company has focused on building strong technology in the hot ad and mobile spaces. It also owns blogs including The Huffington Post and TechCrunch. In short: Verizon already provides the cable, Internet and cell service that consumers use to watch and read content. By buying AOL, Verizon buys the content itself and the advertising too.