AOL Latino Launches TecnoPadres

AOL Latino has launched TecnoPadres.com, a Spanish-language content site aimed at parents seeking information on the impact of technology on children.

The new site will focus on helping less tech-savvy parents better navigate the Web, and monitor their childrens’ increased use of digital media -- including tips on keeping them safe while surfing the Web. Content will include news, service-oriented videos and features on topics like social networking and mobile devices for kids. In addition, the site will license and translate The Online Mom, a similarly-themed site/blog founded by a tech-concerned mother.

Verizon has signed on as TecnoPadres.com’s exclusive sponsor for 2009.

Miguel Ferrer, director of AOL Latino said that in researching whether to go forward with a new editorial site aimed at Spanish speaking parents, his team conducted several technology-related searches, in Spanish and English. The Spanish searches yielded roughly 5 million results while the English searches produced over 100 million. “That showed a very clear gap,” he said.

The new site is one of several vertical properties AOL Latino plans to launch in 2009 as part of its new women's lifestyle network Tu Vida y Más. That strategy is part of AOL’s recent move to form the MediaGlow group, which consists of more than 70 niche content sites rolled out in the past several years -- many of which, like TecnoPadres.com, are not AOL-branded.

In addition to TecnoPadres.com, AOL has also unveiled a Spanish-language version of its social-networking platform Bebo.com. “That is a great way to bring social networking to a large group of people that are not yet fully versed in that activity,” said Ferrer.
-By Mike Shields
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