You've got game! If Time Warner (NYSE:TWX) is right, its AOL arm will be even more popular now that it's acquired the GameDaily.com website and its related industry newsletter.
GameDaily isn't a place to play games like Electronic Arts' (NASDAQ:ERTS) Pogo.com or the Shockwave.com site that Viacom (NYSE:VIA) recently announced it would acquire. Demo downloads are often available, but the site serves mostly as a hub of information for new video-game console titles and guides to get you through established titles. In that sense, it's more like CNET's (NASDAQ:CNET) Gamespot or IAC/InterActiveCorp's (NASDAQ:IACI) IGN.com.
Now that AOL is solid with Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) as an advertising partner and minority investor, the quest for eyeballs means organic gains, as well as timely buyouts. GameDaily will serve AOL well now, but may become even more popular later this year, when the PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii hit the market.
Time Warner may not be a company associated with good timing. The merger of Time Warner and America Online has destroyed more wealth than it initially created, with the combined company trading for less than Time Warner or AOL did as stand-alone entities. The stock has been stuck in the teens, but content deals like this one for GameDaily should drive interactive marketing revenues higher, ultimately renewing interest in Time Warner's forgotten shares.
So play on, Time Warner. There's little left to lose at this point.
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CNET is a Motley Fool Rule Breakers stock pick.
Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz enjoys playing video games, but not daily. He does not own shares in any of the companies in this story. Rick is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early. The Fool has a disclosure policy.
