Google and AOL make it official

Late Tuesday, Google and AOL finally officially announced their strategic alliance. Google is going to pay $1 billion for a 5% stake in AOL. AOL is also going to get marketing credits on Google advertising network. Media reports estimate that the marketing credits will be worth approximately $300 million. Lastly, the other significant news is that the two companies are going to work together to make Google Talk and AOL Instant Messenger communicate together.