AOL, Inc. (NYSE:AOL) has acquired “hyper-local” blog company Outside.in according to an industry source. Rumor has it that the acquisition price was under $10 million. Outside.in will be integrated into AOL’s Patch.com. Outside.in was founded in 2006 by Steven Johnson. [BusinessInsider]

Rumor has is that AOL is in talks to acquire local news aggregation company Outside.in. The talks may fall apart since it is in early stages according to BusinessInsider. Steven Johnson founded Outside.in in 2006. Investors in Outside.in include Union Square Ventures, Marc Andreessen, John Borthwick, Esther Dyson, and CNN. If AOL does end up acquiring Outside.in, it is likely that they will roll the technology into Patch.com.

AOL bought out Patch Media Corporation in June 2009. Patch is a local news and information platform that serves local towns. AOL is planning to hire an additional 290 people in an effort to expand Patch. They plan to get their 30 local blogs to hundreds by the end of 2010. The goal is “To be leaders in one of the most promising ‘white spaces’ on the Internet” according to BusinessInsider. AOL told shareholders through the SEC that they plan to spend $50 million to grow Patch. [BusinessInsider]

AOL has bought out a local news website called Patch.com.  Tim Armstrong invested seed capital in Patch.com back in 2007.  As part of the deal, Armstrong will not profit from the seed investment he put in.  However, he will receive his seed capital back through AOL shares once the company separates from Time Warner.

Armstrong’s seed capital was made through his private investment company Polar Capital Group.  Another acquisition that AOL announced is Going.com.  The price of both properties were not disclosed.

The full press release is available after the jump.

[via BusinessInsider]