AOL Buys a Voice Portal, Boosting Bid.com's Fortunes

America Online (AOL) has found its voice -- its voice portal, that is.

After the markets closed Thursday, AOL said it was buying Quack.com, a privately held company with a telephone service that enables people to get stock quotes, sports news and other information via automatically recognized voice commands. The deal translates into a windfall of AOL stock for, among others, a company that could certainly use the money: Toronto-based auction site Bid.com International (BIDS).

For AOL, the deal is one of many it has made in pursuit of its "AOL Anywhere" strategy -- offering elements of its service to users over technology other than personal computers. Earlier this summer, for example, the company made an investment in, and licensed technology from, the voice-recognition technology firm Speechworks.

AOL isn't disclosing how much it paid for Quack.com, but Bid.com volunteered that it was receiving $16.3 million for shares in Quack.com that it had purchased for about $680,000. Bid.com wouldn't specify its stake in Quack.com other than to say it was a minority position. Bid.com has seen its revenue shrink and losses grow as it converts from a business-to-consumer to business-to-business auction site. Its shares rose 22 cents Thursday to close at $2.16.

AOL slipped 19 cents to $58.94.

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