Mashable is reporting today that visitors to Netflix’s site have jumped 46 percent year-over-year for the month of June.
The growth is thanks to the increasing popularity of the Watch Instantly streaming service, and Netflix’s decision to add their native service to set-top boxes, Blu-ray players and HDTVs.
Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney adds that Netflix’s explosive growth is the “fastest year-to-year growth [he] has seen in over five years.”
For the entire second quarter, Netflix’s web traffic was up 34 percent year-over-year. In the first quarter, YoY growth was 19 percent.
Netflix has added 1.7 million subscribers in the Q1, ending with 14 million customers.
Result for: popularity
In April, AOL sold one of the pioneers of instant messaging, ICQ, to Digital Sky Technologies Limited (DST) for $187.5 million USD.
Today, AOL has completed that sale, with Tim Armstrong, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AOL saying the company will use the proceeds to either buy media properties or hoard the cash for emergencies.
Despite losing popularity in the United States to other services such as MSN Messenger and AIM, ICQ remains the most popular IM service in Russia and other smaller international markets.
“The acquisition of ICQ is a strategic enhancement of our business in Russia and Eastern Europe. ICQ’s long-standing brand name and its sizeable loyal customer base together represent a very attractive opportunity to further strengthen our position in the region,” added Yuri Milner, Chief Executive Officer of DST.
ICQ was created in 1996 by Mirabilis of Israel, and AOL purchased the parent company in 1998.
Reads the SEC notice: As previously announced, on April 28, 2010, AOL Inc., (the “Company”) entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement (the “Agreement”) with Digital Sky Technologies Limited, a British Virgin Islands company (“Digital Sky”), for the sale of the Company’s ICQ operations (“ICQ”).
Result for: popularity
AOL has sold one of the pioneers of instant messaging, ICQ, to Digital Sky Technologies Limited (DST) for $187.5 million USD.
Despite losing popularity in the United States to other services such as MSN Messenger and AIM, ICQ remains the most popular IM service in Russia and other smaller international markets.
“The acquisition of ICQ is a strategic enhancement of our business in Russia and Eastern Europe. ICQ’s long-standing brand name and its sizeable loyal customer base together represent a very attractive opportunity to further strengthen our position in the region,” says Yuri Milner, Chief Executive Officer of DST.
ICQ was created in 1996 by Mirabilis of Israel, and AOL purchased the parent company in 1998.
Besides Russia, ICQ is a leader in Israel and the Czech Republic, where users spend over 5 hours a day on the service.
Adds Tim Armstrong, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AOL: “As AOL continues its turnaround effort, we’re fortunate to find a great home for ICQ with DST. DST is a leading innovator in the Internet investment space and has a significant presence in the markets where ICQ is strong. Founded and run in Israel, ICQ has been a revolutionary company on the Internet. We wish them great success as a part of DST and will be rooting for them going forward.”
