This was largely a patent buy, they later sold them to Microsoft for a billion in 2012 [1], which Facebook ended up buying 650 of the 800 they bought from AOL [

This was largely a patent buy, they later sold them to Microsoft for a billion in 2012 [1], which Facebook ended up buying 650 of the 800 they bought from AOL [2]. [1] https://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-buys-netscape-web-patents-from-aol-to-attack-google/ https://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-buys-netscape-web-pa... [2] https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/04/facebook-will-buy-650-aol-patents-from-microsoft/ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/04/facebook-will-bu...