In early 2000, AOL – the biggest name on the internet at the time – partnered with Time Warner – the biggest name in media and entertainment.  The deal was expected to be one of the most dominant business deals in history, but instead wound up as one of the worst.

Today the partnership comes to an end after more than nine years.  While Time Warner is expected to continue business as usual, AOL will need to reshape in order to remain successful. 

AOL’s foundation as an ISP will no longer support the company on its own.  AOL’s dial-up paying members dropped from 26 million to approximately 6 million over the past seven years, according to CNN.com.  However, the company still has a strong presence on the internet.

AOL.com is the fourth-most visited site behind only Google, Yahoo and Microsoft, proving that repurposing the company is feasible and could ensure continued business.  The company’s new model will be based on advertising, publishing online content such as news and blogs, and communication tools such as email and instant messenger.

Among other changes: AOL will become Aol. and the iconic triangular logo and "You’ve Got Mail" symbols of the young company will be tough to replace. The attempt at a comeback will be closely watched as these changes start to take place.

The full article on CNN can be found here.