AOL's Slide on Display

The newly spun-off Web media company today announced first-quarter earnings, reporting that display advertising had slid by 13 percent to $125.6 million vs. the same quarter in 2009. The results were slightly better in the U.S., where display ad revenue fell by 10 percent; international display dollars were off by 29 percent.

Those results come just a week or so after portal rivals Yahoo and Microsoft’s MSN announced major spikes in display advertising — increases of 20 percent and 19 percent, respectively, signaling a turnaround in the long beleaguered market.

But AOL’s ongoing reinvention, during which officials have publicly stated that their ambition is for the company to become the biggest player in display ads, has yet to bear fruit.