AOL admits motive for Netscape buyout

America Online (AOL) has admitted that new revenues from Netscape's Netcenter portal Web site were the prime motivation for this week's $4.2bn buyout.

The Internet content provider is looking forward to years of revenue from Netcenter's 20 million monthly visitors, according to Jonathon Bulkeley, MD of AOL UK.

In an exclusive interview with Silicon.com, Bulkeley said: "The game is about driving eyeballs and controlling eyeballs, because in the end advertising and transactions are where most of the money will come from over the next 15 to 20 years."

When the deal was announced on 24 November, AOL cited Netcenter as just one of a variety of reasons for making the acquisition. It said its main motivation for the deal was "to advance America Online's multiple brand strategy".

The success of the merger has already been questioned by consumer groups in the US, which claim it would give AOL too much proprietary power on the Web. But in his interview, Bulkeley made it clear he believes AOL has lots of potential competitors.

The MD, who is soon to leave AOL to join Barnesandnoble.com, added that the companies share an entrepreneurial culture and said he believes they will merge successfully.