How ironic that greed ultimately costs you money...

"While Google has the cash to write off the loss it is jolly cross about having to do so.

It only bought the stake to prevent Vole from getting AOL, which was one of its largest advertising partners. Unfortunately the bidding war between Google and Microsoft pushed up the value of AOL until it was hardly realistic. At the time it was estimated to be worth $20 billion but now AOL is worth about half that. "

Google can then give themselves a good kick up the a*** for pushing up the price and fuelling the Sub-prime fiasco of buying a pig in a poke.

And AOL is worth exactly nothing to Google, or anybody for that matter, if it delivers nothing new, for then would it just be something which others in the market are already providing and competition will ceaselessly erode its Market making it a declining asset, which is in fact, just an increasing liability...... an Albatross.

What a dumb move that was, Google. So much for all that hype and nonsense about having the right algorithms whenever we can so easily see that it is all just so much more Pie in the Sky Spin/All Talk and No Substance Chatter/Twittering.......... which is normally the One of the first Tell Tale signs of some serious Substance Abuse in Junk and Junkies.