AOL has introduced a new homepage that allows users to access social networks directly from the site.
Users are now able to post status updates to a number of social networks at once along with keeping track of profile activity, friend requests, status updates and mail alerts from Bebo, MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter.
AOL has also rolled out new tools that give users more control over how content and services are displayed. Users can customize the main navigation bar by adding their own links, receive local news updates, access RSS feeds and personalize their page with new design themes.
AOL’s latest move is part of the companies overall strategy to open up its homepage to third party content and services. Last month AOL began allowing users access to Yahoo!, Gmail and Hotmail accounts. The strategy seems to have paid off, in September year-over-year page views to AOL grew 34 percent, unique visitors were up 12 percent, total visits were up 15 percent and time spent was up 40 percent, according to comScore.
“As the Web becomes more fragmented, consumers want choice and relevance in their Web experiences. AOL.com is the first traditional big portal to offer access to popular social networking sites all in one place,” said Bill Wilson, Executive Vice President, AOL Programming.
“Now consumers can connect with their numerous networks and information sources all from AOL.com. We have already seen success by opening up AOL.com to other e-mail providers. We will continue to enhance the appeal of our portal with the changes we are making today by adding more relevant programming, customization opportunities, greater integration of third party content, improved design and access to social networks directly from AOL.com.”
