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AOL to sell Bebo social networking site

It has been confirmed that AOL is looking to sell or close down Bebo.

John Brod, who heads up AOL’s startup and acquisitions division, sent an email on Tuesday to employees explaining that it will conduct a strategic evaluation, which will involve looking for a potential buyer.

Bebo has been struggling with a fledgling user base in the U.S. and stiff competition from the likes of Facebook, which itself became the most visited U.S. website last month for a week, even beating Google, according to Hitwise.

In other countries however, particularly the UK, Bebo remains quite popular. Almost two years ago, AOL bought Bebo for 850 Million U.S. Dollars when Bebo was one of major social networking sites in the UK and had a growing U.S. presence. However, its user base in the U.S. has disminished over the past year.

Mr Brod said that the website would now require significant investment to compete with other social networking sites.  The strategic evaluation should be complete by the end of May.

If AOL does not agree a deal with a potential buyer, the Bebo website may be closed down this year.