Yahoo and AOL are now a Verizon subsidiary called “Oath”

(credit: David Ramos/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Verizon today said it has completed its $4.48 billion acquisition of Yahoo's operating business and formed a new subsidiary called "Oath" that includes both Yahoo and AOL.

Oath is "a diverse house of more than 50 media and technology brands that engages more than a billion people around the world," Verizon's announcement said. (Yahoo alone has previously said it already had more than 1 billion monthly users.)

Advertising is key to Verizon's plans for Oath. Since Verizon is a home Internet provider and the largest wireless carrier in the US, its access to Internet subscribers' browsing histories could help boost the Yahoo/AOL advertising business. The Republican-led Congress and President Donald Trump recently wiped out rules that would have made it harder for ISPs to use their customers' browsing history to serve personalized advertising.

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