Internet firm AOL faced another quarter of declining advertising and subscription revenue, pushing down profit as the company tries to turn itself into an online media conglomerate.

For the first quarter, advertising revenue fell 11 per cent to $313.7 million on declines in search and third-party ads. Display advertising, which is part of overall ad revenue, rose 4 per cent. Revenue from dial-up subscriptions dropped 24 per cent to $215.4 million.

First-quarter profit plummeted 86 per cent to $4.7 million, or 4 cents per share, compared with $34.7 million, or 39 cents per share, a year ago.

AOL, spun out from Time Warner about a year and half ago, has been trying to regain its former luster - over a decade ago it was one of the Internet's most popular destination dominated by email.

Since the separation from Time Warner, AOL has been actively gobbling up media-related sites, including a $315 billion purchase of the Huffington Post in February, cutting costs, and retuning its sales force.