AOL Abandons File Sharing Platform

According to Techcrunch, AOL chose to terminate its web-based storage and file sharing platform XDrive. The blog has an email from AOL EVP Kevin Conroy, who amongst other things writes:

"To effectively grow the XDrive online storage business we would need to focus on subscription revenues vs. monetizing through advertising revenue, and this business model is not in strategic alignment with our company’s goals."

Conroy assures users they will have the possibility to transfer their data to other platforms. Probably at the moment online storage companies like Box.net are rubbing their hands together in anticipation.

Looks like AOL will also be closing doors of the image hosting service AOL Pictures and Bluestring.com, a seven-month-old personal media sharing platform. Conroy carries on:

"These consumer storage products haven’t gained sufficient traction in the marketplace or the monetization levels necessary to offset the high cost of their operation.