What is AOL?

America Online, or AOL, is a global web services company. As of 2014, AOL has been providing web services for 29 years. In 1991, Quantum was renamed America Online.

AOL is well-known for its email catch phrase "you've got mail." In 1989, the company, which was called Quantum at the time, launched its first version of the instant messenger service. In 1995, AOL launched the Buddy List feature to its instant messenger service and reached 5 million members. By 2009, AOL had over 80 content websites, and had gone from an hourly service to a free service. That same year, AOL became a publicly traded company.