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AOL Europe has launched a free portal targeted to Italian users. The site, AOL.it, includes many of the same features as its American counterpart, including options for “unlimited” email storage, photo and video sharing tools, and instant messaging. Search on the site is powered by Google.
According to an AOL spokesperson, the online advertising market in Western Europe is expected to grow more than 25 percent per year through 2009, which is faster than in the US. AOL is currently struggling in its transition to an advertising-based service with ad revenue rising just 16 percent last quarter, well below that of its peers. Thus, it’s not surprising to see AOL moving into new markets to try and accelerate overall growth.