Today AOL launched a new portal designed to expand their presence in Mexico.
http://www.aol.com.mx combines all the typical AOL services, including free email and instant messaging with Spanish-language localization.
AOL has a spotty history of expanding into other countries. In the past, they have expanded and withdrawn from several markets after failing to build adequate market share. Part of the difficulty in the past was their focus on the ISP market. Today, they make the move more as a pure portal rather than an ISP.
Yahoo already has a Mexican version of their popular portal (
http://mx.yahoo.com/), as does MSN (
http://prodigy.msn.com/).
Will AOL's new entry make a dent in the Mexican web market? Possbily, but only if they can build strong partnerships with already popular Mexican media.
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