AOL Buys Goowy

Still not sure widgets are a must-have for any Internet company? AOL will announce today that they have acquired Goowy, a company that allows you to create your own widgets (a la Widgetbox) as well as the Goowy Webtop, a suite of online apps that was long ago surpassed by the yourminis platform.

AOL has actually been working with Goowy since 2006, using their widget creation tool for their myAOL feature. Neither AOL nor Goowy have divulged the financial details of the purchase, and it's unclear whether the purchase means that Goowy will continue providing their products for the general Internet or enter an exclusive agreement with AOL. They also don't detail the future of the Goowy Webtop, which actually could be used as a strategy for AOL to provide more of a desktop-independent experience for it's subscribers.

The purchase itself demonstrates that AOL still sees itself as a player in the Web space, although the news obviously pales when compared to Microsoft's Yahoo offer. With their Netscape support ending last Friday and this new purchase, they appear to be consolidating their businesses. And it may be cheaper in the long run to just buy out their partner rather than continue to pay them.

The real question, however, is where AOL plans on going. They have very little presence in the Web 2.0 space aside from their instant messenger client, which still enjoys a decent audience share. Their portal looks like a near clone of Yahoo's, and aside from those who are still on dial-up and are willing to pay AOL's prices to remain there, they look like the kid who should have been held back in class yet wasn't.