WebProNews

AOL joins Google and numerous other providers in offering an advertiser supported free e-mail service.

The new service will be available to users of the Internet service provider's popular AIM instant messaging service. Users will have e-mail addresses consisting of their username with @aim.com appended.

New software will be needed to utilize the free e-mail service. A beta version of the new AIM will be available for download starting today. Though the service will require AIM initially, the company plans to expand it to a Web-based service accessible from any browser.

E-mail accounts come with 2GB of storage. Google's Gmail service offers a similar amount. But the motivation for the new service will be to keep users and their eyeballs on advertising in AIM.

AOL needs to get a bigger slice of the Internet advertising market. The company lost over half a million paying subscribers during the first quarter.

When the next-generation AIM client, called Triton, comes to market, AOL hopes to have enough features integrated into AIM to develop customer loyalty. The software will support text-based chats, multi-user voice chat, and video.

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.