<s>
AOL	B-Application
Hometown	I-Application
was	O
a	O
web	O
hosting	O
service	O
offered	O
by	O
AOL	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
offered	O
12	O
megabytes	O
of	O
server	O
space	O
for	O
AOL	O
subscribers	O
to	O
publish	O
their	O
own	O
websites	O
,	O
and	O
included	O
a	O
10-step	O
form-driven	O
page	B-Language
creator	I-Language
called	O
1-2-3	O
Publish	O
and	O
a	O
WYSIWYG	B-Application
online	O
website	B-Language
builder	I-Language
called	O
Easy	O
Designer	O
,	O
neither	O
of	O
which	O
required	O
knowledge	O
of	O
HTML	B-Language
(	O
AOLpress	B-Application
had	O
been	O
AOL	O
's	O
website	B-Language
builder	I-Language
before	O
the	O
introduction	O
of	O
AOL	B-Application
Hometown	I-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2001	O
,	O
AOL	B-Application
Hometown	I-Application
estimatedly	O
had	O
11	O
million	O
websites	O
and	O
a	O
new	O
website	O
was	O
added	O
to	O
it	O
every	O
eight	O
seconds	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
2002	O
,	O
AOL	B-Application
Hometown	I-Application
had	O
grown	O
to	O
14	O
million	O
websites	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Before	O
Hometown	O
,	O
AOL	O
made	O
2	O
megs	O
of	O
webspace	O
available	O
for	O
each	O
user	O
name	O
,	O
and	O
had	O
tools	O
"	O
Personal	O
Publisher	O
II	O
"	O
and	O
"	O
AOLPress	B-Application
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Personal	O
Publisher	O
let	O
users	O
create	O
webpages	O
without	O
knowing	O
HTML	B-Language
;	O
AOL	O
discontinued	O
Personal	O
Publisher	O
circa	O
2000	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
AOL	O
members	O
could	O
also	O
use	O
the	O
"	O
MyPlace	O
"	O
keyword	O
to	O
upload	O
HTML	B-Language
files	I-Language
they	O
created	O
themselves	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Within	O
the	O
first	O
year	O
,	O
in	O
1999	O
,	O
the	O
site	O
was	O
redesigned	O
and	O
rebranded	O
as	O
"	O
AOL	B-Application
Hometown	I-Application
"	O
to	O
align	O
the	O
name	O
with	O
the	O
rest	O
of	O
the	O
AOL	O
properties	O
 '	O
names	O
(	O
AOL	O
+	O
property	O
name	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Official	O
online	O
information	O
as	O
to	O
when	O
AOL	B-Application
Hometown	I-Application
started	O
out	O
is	O
scarce	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
First	O
mention	O
of	O
AOL	B-Application
Hometown	I-Application
in	O
a	O
Google	B-Library
Scholar	I-Library
publication	O
dates	O
from	O
2000	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
Quick	O
Guide	O
to	O
You	O
'Ve	O
Got	O
Pictures	O
,	O
Aol	O
Exclusive	O
Version	O
by	O
D	O
.	O
Peal	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Prior	O
to	O
that	O
,	O
AOL	B-Application
Hometown	I-Application
was	O
mentioned	O
in	O
a	O
Deseret	O
News	O
article	O
on	O
September	O
30	O
,	O
1999	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Two	O
tools	O
for	O
AOL	B-Application
Hometown	I-Application
on	O
the	O
internet	O
suggest	O
a	O
start	O
date	O
of	O
1999	O
or	O
before	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
copyright	O
notice	O
to	O
the	O
AOL	B-Application
Hometown	I-Application
StatCounter	O
reads	O
"	O
Copyright	O
1999-2011	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Over	O
the	O
time	O
of	O
its	O
existence	O
,	O
AOL	B-Application
Hometown	I-Application
incorporated	O
websites	O
of	O
formerly	O
independent	O
services	O
acquired	O
by	O
or	O
merged	O
with	O
AOL	O
,	O
including	O
,	O
but	O
not	O
limited	O
to	O
Ancestry.com,	O
MyFamily.com,	O
Netscape	B-Protocol
,	O
CompuServe	O
,	O
eAccess	O
AcmeCity	O
and	O
others	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Thus	O
,	O
it	O
contained	O
an	O
unknown	O
number	O
of	O
websites	O
that	O
had	O
been	O
online	O
for	O
longer	O
than	O
the	O
existence	O
of	O
AOL	B-Application
Hometown	I-Application
itself	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
the	O
German	O
forum	O
antispam.de,	O
one	O
poster	O
complained	O
in	O
2008	O
that	O
with	O
the	O
shutdown	O
of	O
AOL	B-Application
Hometown	I-Application
,	O
AOL	O
had	O
deleted	O
his	O
website	O
that	O
had	O
remained	O
on	O
the	O
internet	O
"	O
for	O
more	O
than	O
17	O
years	O
"	O
(	O
since	O
at	O
least	O
1991	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
