Break Up to Make Up: An AOLove Story

Thompson-Reuters news service reports that AOL is once again seeking a merger with Yahoo!, and is ready to break itself up in the process. If true, this is long overdue, here’s why:

AOL is adrift as evidenced by its revenue, based largely on a dwindling dial-up subscriber base. Yahoo’s revenue is uneven, but compare the two side by side and you’ll see that AOL needs Yahoo or it is destined for extinction. And Yahoo needs something like AOL if it wants to ramp up and continue to challenge the almighty Google.

The recipe: Sell off the dial-up subscribers to Earthlink; integrate AOL web properties and AOL Advertising ( formerly Platform A) into Yahoo!

It’s an idea whose Time (Warner) has come.