Local portal operators unafraid of AOL

The Polish version of AOL.com (formerly America Online), is to be launched following others in Switzerland, Netherlands, Italy, Sweden and Austria. Although details are to be revealed next week, it is understood that apart from localized content and its proprietary e-mail service, AOL will also be offering a Polish version of AIM, its messaging service, and WinAmp, its multimedia player. AOL has 123 million users worldwide, two out of three of which live in the US. Now it wants to increase its share of the rapidly-growing European market for online advertising, including Poland's which is expected to reach zł.415 million this year. The company is in for some stiff competition, however, as the top five leading internet portals: Onet, Wirtualna Polska, Interia, Gazeta and o2,  have built up strong brands and a customer base of 6-9.5 million people each. These established players are also apparently unafraid of AOL. "We are not surprised because we followed closely AOL's earlier forays into other European markets," says Michał Bonarowski, editor-in-chief of Onet. "We are not complacent, but with the market growing by several tens of percent a year, there is little danger AOL will win a substantial market share at our expense." (Rzeczpospolita, p. B1) R.M.