partnership posts

More than 80% of high school students in the U.S. report they witness bullying at least once a week and 25% say that they see acts of bullying at least once a day, according to a national survey released today by DoSomething.org. In an effort to educate and empower parents to talk to their children about ways in which kids can be more than just a bystander, a national, nationwide multimedia PSA campaign launched yesterday to coincide with National Bullying Prevention Month in October.

The campaign was developed by the Ad Council, in partnership with AOL, Facebook, Johnson & Johnson, the Free to Be Foundation, the Waitt Institute for Violence Prevention, and the Departments of Education and Health & Human Services. This movement includes a series of TV, radio, print and online PSAs, that will shed a light on the severity and ubiquity of bullying and educate our nation's parents on a worthwhile cause.

Created pro bono by AOL, customized Devil advertising units are now running on HuffPost Parents, HuffPost Women, across the AOL network, homepage and AOL Mail sign-in pages. AOL has even created a celebrity-focused "You've Got" segment featuring Marlo Thomas and Kelly Ripa to speak about the cause. Additionally, AOL generated a Road Devil, one of AOL's new mobile platform ad-units, for the Ad Council, which marks the first time a mobile Road Devil ad-unit has ever been utilized to highlight a non-profit organization/cause.

To learn more about the campaign and for resources to help you talk to your children about bullying, visit stopbullying.gov and the Stop Bullying Speak Up Facebook page. You can also visit AOL On, our channel dedicated to National Bullying Prevention Month - below is one of the many interviews it features.

From the day I started at Patch over four years ago, we realized that small businesses (SMB) were an underserved and misrepresented group. Much of the information presented about them online was incorrect and their online opportunities were confusing and limited. To effectively represent local communities, we knew you had to start with the local businesses and places that comprised them. As a result, we proactively - and painstakingly - collected information about every small business and place in every community we covered. We built comprehensive local business directories which we offered to businesses free of charge, enabling SMBs to claim their listing and market themselves to their communities through Patch. We also provided a dedicated SMB support team to address their unique questions and needs. When an SMB calls or emails us, someone is here to help them.

Today, in announcing "Patch Partners," we are reinforcing our commitment to Patch advertisers, and to small business owners everywhere. Why? Because at Patch we know that small businesses have more at stake in local communities than most. They not only live in these communities, they've invested in them, and in themselves. They're truly the fabric that binds strong communities together. Small businesses also have a unique set of needs and challenges that are frequently overlooked by traditional media. We're in a great position to help them. Small businesses are a major audience for us; they're "power users" on Patch. When it comes to commenting, uploading and engagement, they're one of our most active user groups. We view them as essential partners in growing local commerce and community. We hope "Patch Partners" will not only further empower small businesses to reach their most valuable customers, but enrich and inspire them by connecting them to each other, to successful businesses within the Patch network, and to nationally recognized entrepreneurs and businesses that have successfully built their brands and businesses into global successes.

To learn more about this announcement, read the full press release here.

As of today, the display alliance between AOL, Microsoft and Yahoo! that was announced last November is operational. We are now offering each other's non-reserved display inventory to respective customers through each of our ad networks: AOL's Advertising.com, Microsoft Media Network and Yahoo! Network Plus.

The partnership will fundamentally change the way we buy and sell premium online display inventory and benefits advertisers, agencies and publishers. It was formed to help streamline the media-buying process by providing more efficient access to premium online ad inventory. The partnership is expected to extend the reach of the companies' advertisers while offering better yields for their publishing partners.

Today's news sets in motion the opportunity for advertisers and agencies to achieve scaled solutions across premium publishers, ultimately giving them access to high quality inventory and reducing friction in the marketplace. In addition to the United States, Yahoo and AOL have an agreement that extends to Canada. Microsoft's Canada business is not participating directly in the agreement.

Today, Arianna Huffington announced the launch of HuffPost Money, a section dedicated to looking at the big financial stories of our time, with an eye on answering the question: how do the day's headlines affect you and your finances?

HuffPost Money is founded on the understanding that many of the biggest stories of our time -- from foreclosures and the decline in American economic mobility to the payroll tax extension and the growing student loan debt -- have a direct influence on the way we live, spend, and save.

HuffPost Money is edited by Emily Cohn, who will report to Emily Peck, managing editor of HuffPost Business. To learn more about the launch read Arianna's blog post here.

AOL UK announced an enhanced version of its personal finance site, AOL Money, with a fully integrated price comparison hub in partnership with lovemoney.com and an investing platform powered by The Motley Fool.

As content continues to be the key driver of our strategy, we are enhancing AOL Money through these partnerships, providing users with tools to deliver a first in class web experience as well as giving brands the opportunity to interact with an even more engaged audience. With a focus on consumer advice, news-led features and the latest financial products, AOL Money now includes expanded editorial content and improved design and usability.

Learn more about this announcement here.

It Makes Good Cents: @HuffPostMoney Launches, @MoneyAOL UK Gets Redesign aol.it/xPTKL9

- AOL PR (@AOLPR) March 1, 2012

AOL today announced that its video search results are powered by blinkx. In turn, blinkx will incorporate AOL's premium video assets into its current index of over 35 million hours of content, making them easily searchable and accessible to users around the world.

The partnership expands the quantity and quality of AOL's video search results and also delivers integrated Safe Search tools that block adult oriented content from minors.

Search and watch on AOL.com and blinkx.com!