NEW YORK: America Online said on Monday it will be known simply as AOL, retiring its old name after 15 years. 
 
The name change for the unit of media giant Time Warner comes as the Internet service giant reached a strategic deal with Google, which took a five percent stake in the division and worked out a partnership for online advertising. 
 
"Our company long ago accomplished the mission implied by our old name... we literally got America online," said Jon Miller, chairman and chief executive of AOL.
 
"Our new corporate identity better reflects our expanded mission -- to make everyone's online experience better. Plus, consumers in the US and around the world already know us by our initials."
 
AOL, whose 2000 merger with Time Warner was much acclaimed at the time but has now gone emphatically sour, has been struggling as consumers shift to high-speed Internet providers.