Broadband provider AOL has announced that it has acquired blogging site Bebo in a move that it hopes will improve services for its customers.

Bebo is one of the world's leading social networking sites and AOL has commented that the purchase will add to the growing range of products available to its customers, which also includes AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) and the ICQ personal communications network.

Combined, the broadband provider estimates that these tools have around 80 million users worldwide.

Bebo alone has around 40 million users, with members able to create, discover and share content.

"AOL understands the shifting dynamics of the web and has clearly demonstrated its commitment to leveraging the ever-increasing power of social networks," stated Bebo president Joanna Shields

The international supplier also recently announced the release of its new AIM 2.0 development suite, which allows users to seamlessly integrate the instant messaging technology into web-based content.