Feb. 29 (Bloomberg) -- AOL, the Time Warner Inc. unit trying to catch up to Yahoo! Inc. and Google Inc. in Internet traffic, plans to start at least a dozen Web sites in the next six months to attract more advertisers.

By the end of this year, AOL may have topped the 20 to 30 sites it introduced in 2007, said Bill Wilson, executive vice president of programming, in an interview in Dulles, Virginia.

``We want to be sure we are appealing to as many consumers as we can,'' Wilson said this week.

AOL, an online pioneer created in 1985, is trying to catch up with newer competitors by offering free e-mail and Web security, a plan pushed by Time Warner Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Bewkes since 2006. An increase in visitors and advertising hasn't made up for declines at the unit's Internet dial-up business, leading to a 32 percent drop in AOL's fourth-quarter revenue.

Last year, AOL introduced new sites such as ``Asylum,'' a men's lifestyle site, and music site ``Spinner'' to go after niche interests within broader categories, Wilson said. He wouldn't say what kinds of Web sites AOL is planning to start this year.

In 2007, as AOL shifted its focus to ad sales, the group also redesigned and re-introduced new versions of other sites, including those focused on sports, news and lifestyle.

Profit Strategy

Sites owned by AOL had 109.4 million visitors in January, ranking fourth behind Yahoo, Google and Microsoft Corp., according to Reston, Virginia-based researcher ComScore Inc.

Bewkes, who took over from Richard Parsons Jan. 1, said this month he will split off AOL's shrinking Internet access business from the rest of the unit. He said at the time that his goal is to increase the value of Time Warner and the stock price ``on a long-term basis.'' He announced plans yesterday to combine the Warner Bros. and New Line film studios to boost profitability.

Investors have called for Bewkes to turn around AOL, sell a remaining 84 percent stake in Time Warner Cable Inc., and anchor the company around film and TV businesses. He has also announced 100 corporate job cuts, which will save $50 million annually.

Shares of Time Warner, the world's largest media company, lost 41 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $15.61 at 4:06 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. New York-based Time Warner's 24 percent drop last year made it the 10th-worst performer in the Standard & Poor's 100 Index.

To contact the reporter on this story: Gillian Wee in New York at gwee3@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: February 29, 2008 16:12 EST