Well, I don't know that as fact, but that is the business model they have used with many other content providers. AOL has such a large audience, that they can demand large sums from vendors wishing to set up shop on AOL's property. I've seen quite a few sites that are trying to sell online memorials, but I don't think people are ready to pay money for it. Death is a very personal thing. It's not a novelty.
People still look at online memorials as a novelty.
I don't know. But it just does not give me that same feeling of being at a live memorial service. But I think there is a place for FREE online memorials. I accept requests for placing obits in my cemetery transcriptions. Heck, I think AOL software has gotten to the point where its actually easy to do this.