Why Would Google Want AOL?

Here's one from the rumor mill.  I was reading a post in Susan Mernit's Blog, in which she writes:

I got an email from a friend who spent this evening on one of NYC's top restaurants. He said "I was seated near some people from Google and AOL who were celebrating some sort of deal. They'd signed papers and wanted to sit off by themselves so no one could hear them talk."

I don't know what to think of this.  Although Google, I believe, already owns a 5% stake in AOL (a division of Time Warner), I can't imagine their wanting the whole thing, unless they've got a very creative and aggressive plan to turn it around.

According to Time Warner's latest 10-K report, AOL's subscribers in Europe and the United States dropped by 10 million to 15.5 million between Dec. '05 and Dec. '06, and 52% of that loss occurred in the last three months.  That's a very serious problem, and as a Google shareholder myself, I'm not too thrilled at this prospect.

Google's latest 10-K reports $13 billion in total current assets.  They certainly have the wherewithal to acquire the sinking ship, but why would they?