AOL
American web portal and online service provider
AOL Media LLC (formerly a predecessor company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is a web portal and former online service provider based in New York City. It is owned by Bending Spoons.
AOL traces its history to PlayNET, an online service. PlayNET licensed its software to Quantum Link, which went online in November 1985. An IBM PC compatible client was launched in 1988. The service was renamed as America Online (abbreviated as AOL) in 1989. AOL grew to become the largest online service, ahead of established players CompuServe and Prodigy. By 1995, AOL had about three million active users.
AOL was at one point the most recognized Internet-related brand in the United States.
The public source identifies “AOL” as american web portal and online service provider. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around American, portal and online.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “AOL”, the useful work is to connect “american web portal and online service provider” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q27585. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1985, 1988, 1989 and 1995.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “AOL”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow AOL primary sources, AOL archive and American research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “AOL”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “AOL” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.