Google's $1 Billion Stake in AOL Turns Sour

SAN FRANCISCO - Google(GOOG Quote) has acknowledged that its investment in Time Warner's(TWX Quote) AOL division has not been paying off.

The Internet giant invested $1 billion for a 5% stake in AOL back in 2005 but in a recent SEC filing, Google admitted that the relationship has yielded little return.

"Based on our review, we believe our investment in AOL may be impaired," Google said in the filing.

The company added that it will review its investment and left open the possibility of future impairment charges if the value of AOL continues to decline.

AOL has been struggling to generate a meaningful revenue stream for years. It currently outsources its online search ads to Google.

Time Warner has been looking to spin off AOL but so far there have been no takers. At one point, it had been in talks with Yahoo!(YHOO Quote) but no deal was ever reached.

Shares of Google were up 2.5% in recent trading on Friday to $491.03. Shares of Time Warner were up 6.6% to $15.46.