AOL plans to sell or shut down social website

Struggling internet company AOL plans to sell or shut down social website Bebo, which it bought for $850m (€634m) nearly two years ago.

In an e-mail sent to AOL employees today, the company said Bebo’s audience is falling and that it would need a “significant investment” to remain competitive as a social networking company.

Bebo has been popular in Europe, but not in the US According to comScore, it had 5.1 million US users in February, compared with 209.7 million for Facebook.

AOL said it is looking for potential buyers and plans to finish a strategic evaluation by the end of May.

AOL bought Bebo in May 2008. AOL was then part of Time Warner. It separated from the media conglomerate last year.