While there were reports that the Time Warner board was meeting today to approve the spin-off of its AOL online unit, it actually gave the move an “enthusiastic endorsement” last night, according to sources.

Time Warner just put out the press release about the move that would make AOL an “independent, publicly traded company.”

But, several sources with knowledge of the situation said AOL CEO and Chairman Tim Armstrong is set to make massive changes to the structure of AOL, sweeping aside its current set-up almost completely.

That includes keeping the access business, which many thought would be sold off and putting many of the companies it has recently acquired–including its pricey Bebo social networking site–in a separate ventures unit, which will try to attract outside investment.

Read More »

If BoomTown were to hazard a guess, I would assume Yahoo would, if it could–in the end–sell itself off to Microsoft.

It’s just my opinion, of course, but it would still be the best-case scenario for the company, over either a more limited commercial advertising and search partnership with the software giant or, of course, going it alone.

That’s because, in 2009, it is still hard to answer the simple question: What is Yahoo?

That’s the one that stumped former Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang onstage at our sixth D: All Things Digital conference last year and will be the key query that Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz will need to answer when she takes the stage Wednesday morning at D7.

Read More »

More musical chairs at Yahoo, which BoomTown predicted recently, as top execs at the company move in and out of jobs, and new ones from the outside move in.

Perhaps the most important change to occur is the replacement this week of SVP Scott Dietzen–who had been in charge of all communications and communities products at Yahoo–by former Adobe Systems exec Bryan Lamkin, several sources said.

And there’s even more…

Read More »

For a tall man, Tim Armstrong has been on an awful lot of online companies’ short lists.

For a big Web exec job, that is. Indeed, whenever one opens up in the Internet space, the 6-foot 3-inch Google ad sales exec always pops up on it as a possible candidate to lead a variety of digital companies and start-ups.

Finally today–after longtime speculation that Armstrong had long wanted and would eventually leave his post at Google in order to try his hand at being top dog–he took over as chairman and CEO of the once-mighty, but now-not-so-much, AOL.

Armstrong, who will start at AOL on April 7, talked to BoomTown this afternoon about his new job.

Read More »

Let’s just say the firing of AOL CEO Randy Falco and President Ron Grant was not exactly expected–even if everyone thought it should happen–within the high ranks of the troubled online unit, until Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes dropped the guillotine this afternoon in Manhattan.

And drop it he did, lopping off the pair of executives Bewkes had installed himself. He replaced them with Tim Armstrong, Google’s head of ad sales, a man with a much brighter resume, for what is likely to be an attempt to spin out AOL now that merger options are moribund.

“It’s a shock to everyone how sudden it was,” said one exec, noting that AOL’s top execs had no idea this is coming today. “Everyone talked about when Bewkes was going to run out of patience with Randy and Ron all the time, but no one knew it was coming now, since it had taken so long.”

Read More »

It looks like two years of relentless controversy and company upheaval have sent Yahoo’s former PR person back into the arms of a retail outfit.

Jill Nash, who said she was leaving Yahoo in early February, will be taking the top PR job at San Francisco-based Levi Strauss & Co., where the former Gap exec will get the title of chief communications officer and VP of corporate affairs.

Of course, given the tough retail market these days, life at the jeans manufacturer isn’t going to be all worn-in comfort either.

Read More »

About 10 days ago, BoomTown posted a piece titled, “With a King’s Ransom in Cash, Why Is There Still No Buying Spree in the Tech Space Yet?”

Noting the big cash hordes being held by a plethora of giant tech and Internet companies and their strong cash flows too, even in the midst of the economic meltdown–I wondered when the mergers and acquisitions would ever begin.

With no hooking up as yet–which feels about as annoying as the persistently unconsummated flirtation of Chuck and Blair on “Gossip Girl”–that just won’t do!

So, here are a few suggestions to get this party started.

Read More »

As part of its ongoing rejiggering of its social-networking offerings, AOL is formally rolling out its expected Lifestream platform today with a new “timeline” depicting a user’s online life in a streaming horizontal calendar called a Lifestory.

Lifestream will first be available on AOL’s Bebo and include updates from friends on Facebook, Myspace, YouTube, Flickr, Twitter and Del.icio.us. Lifestream can also be used by brands, celebrities, bands and companies.

It’s all part of ongoing changes at the Time Warner online unit.

Read More »

The game of executive musical chairs among Web companies keeps on going, with sources telling BoomTown that AOL ad head Lynda Clarizio will be departing the online service and be replaced by former high-ranking Yahoo advertising exec Greg Coleman.

The move at AOL, which has been in the works for only a week, could be announced as early as today, although I have been hearing rumors of such a development since late last week.

Both AOL’s content and communications units have been getting an overhaul of late, and now it seems it is time for its lackluster ad business.

Read More »

It looks like Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz is going to have to up the ante to keep BoomTown from getting its mitts on the company’s internal memos.

Earlier today, this column broke the news that Yahoo PR head Jill Nash was headed out the door and mentioned that Bartz had been dangling cash rewards to Yahoos to turn in other employees who leaked information.

Good gracious–it’s like “Oz,” except for the free lattes!

Well, she has to do better than the $1,000 bounty she mentioned in a recent email, since I got sent the memo sent out by Nash to Yahoo staff about her departure in its entirety pretty quickly.

Read More »

Jill Nash, Yahoo’s chief communications officer, has told CEO Carol Bartz and other Yahoo staff this afternoon that she is leaving the company.

Nash, sources said, told staff that she does not have any plans to move to another company immediately, so the reasons for her departure are unclear.

BoomTown would have to guess that Nash is simply completely spent from her past two years at Yahoo, which have been very fraught from a public relations perspective, to say the least.

Read More »

Here is the letter AOL CEO Randy Falco has penned to the entire staff about its layoffs of 10 percent of its workforce–or 700 people–and other cost cuts, which the online service is announcing today.

“We’re at a pivotal point in AOL’s transformation, and need to be even more strategically focused and operationally efficient as we weather the economic storm,” wrote Falco, in part, about the move.

Read More »

Time Warner online unit AOL is cutting 700 employees due to the weak economy and the ensuing falloff in advertising revenue, but also because of recent structural changes made to refocus the once-mighty service.

AOL CEO Randy Falco sent a memo this afternoon to AOL staff about the layoffs and other cost cuts being made, confirming the moves.

Other changes: Goodbye to raises and a hello to a consolidation of AOL’s facilities.

Read More »

It wasn’t just Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer meeting in New York last week.

According to several sources close to the situation, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes rounded out the trio of chit-chatting execs, presumably gathered to discuss possible partnerships and other deals between and amongst the companies whose digital assets are among the largest on the Web.

Although the possibilities are numerous, exactly what Bostock, Ballmer and Bewkes–let’s call them the Busy B’s from here on out–were cooking up is unclear.

Read More »

Here’s a joke an exec at AOL recently sent me: Q: How many Yahoo and AOL dealmakers does it take to screw in a lightbulb A: None–you don’t need light if you’re never going to sign a merger agreement. Ahahahaha. Ha. Well, not really. So, seriously, what is Time Warner going to do about its AOL online unit?

Read More »