Huffington Post launches German edition; India on the horizon

The Huffington Post, the news website owned by AOL Inc, said it plans to start a German- language edition as it seeks to continue its expansion outside the home US market.

In partnership with Munich-based Burda's Tomorrow Focus AG, The Huffington Post will bring its mix of news, blogging and social commenting to readers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

 ''We are thrilled to be partnering with Tomorrow Focus to launch the German edition of the Huffington Post,'' Arianna Huffington, president and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post Media Group, said in a statement. Tomorrow Focus will contribute editorial resources through Focus Online, the statement added.

"Tomorrow Focus is deeply involved in virtually every sector of digital content in Germany, and there is no one we'd rather be partnering with for this expansion," Huffington said.

The site will based in Munich and staffed by local journalists and writers.

"We are very proud to be part of the worldwide success story of The Huffington Post, one of the most innovative and well-known news and opinion platforms,'' said Tomorrow Focus board member Christoph Schuh in the press release.

The Huffington Post currently has international editions in the UK, Canada, France, Spain and Italy, with a sixth edition, in Japan, launching in May.

Since expanding its footprint to Canada and the UK in 2011, the Huffington Post has joined with prominent media companies to launch non-English editions. This is reportedly already in the works for Brazil, Russia, India, South Korea, Morocco, Mexico and Australia.

"The international expansion has been a dream of mine from the beginning," Huffington told the Financial Times. "We are taking the HuffPo editorial and technology DNA everywhere. We also are creating a group of international bureaus that can work together on stories."

The Huffington Post's global expansion stands in contrasts with traditional news organisations that are bleeding revenues and cutting staff.

The Huffington Post has not turned a profit since the hugely popular blog site was acquired by AOL for $315 million in 2011, but executives said traffic and ad revenues were growing.

The site would make money, they said, if it weren't building new ventures such as the international editions and digital video. AOL reports earnings on Friday.