After officially announcing that AOL was going to be spun off yesterday, Tim Armstrong, the CEO of the Time (TWX) Warner online unit, held an all-hands meeting for employees today.

BoomTown reported the details of the new structure of AOL yesterday, which Armstrong discussed at the gathering.

Here is a quick synopsis of the meeting, which included a focus on content, advertising and making AOL’s acquisitions work better via a new venture unit.

Several employees I spoke to said Armstrong–who was a former top Google (GOOG) advertising exec, which–not surprisingly–seems to be a strong influence on him–did a good job.

Staffers said they were glad for the vision that Armstrong displayed, which some at the company think has been lacking in recent years.

Here’s a rundown of several key points:

The Google-ization of advertising: AOL’s Platform-A, including its valuable Advertising.com unit, will focus on many more customers, rather than a few big ones.

That includes having more of a self-service model, more like Google.

Content is king: Armstrong stressed content, which comes from AOL’s MediaGlow content unit, run by Bill Wilson.

Content will be a key focus at AOL, which has been investing heavily in media sites over the last several years.

Sink-or-swim start-ups: AOL’s acquisitions–such as the overpriced Bebo social networking unit–have to live and die on their own in a new AOL Ventures Group.

Some will be spun out and some will be sold, but all have to survive by their wits.

Internet company values: Compensation, which has been hindered by Time Warner’s ownership, will be based on how Web companies compensate.

That means stock options and equity, but also more risk and innovation on the part of employees.

The motto: “I, for one, welcome our new AOL overlords.”

Why shouldn’t they? As BoomTown reported, every Bebo employee has had their previously granted stock options accelerated and fully vested under terms of the deal.

This is typical in acquisitions by the Time Warner (TWX) online subsidiary, since it cannot offer enough of its moribund old media stock.

Unfortunately, those kind of deal terms don’t make for the kind of environment that encourages already jumpy entrepreneurs to stay. In fact, it kind of gives them a free pass to leave.

Still, it is nice to see Bebo minions celebrating their new bosses, including AOL CEO Randy Falco and President Ron Grant, who helmed the Bebo deal.

But to clarify for Bebo staff: Falco and Grant’s nickname at AOL is Smithers and Burns, that lovable pair from “The Simpsons,” and not overlords.

It goes without saying that further errors like this will not be tolerated.

According to several execs who contacted me today, this is what Yahoo (YHOO) did in late 2006, when the troubled Internet portal was starting to suffer from drift and its stock was struggling. The solution was “Project Engage,” which was a combination of granting options and restricted stocks units (RSUs).

At the time, employees were given two of each kind, with the stock options and one RSU grant having a longer vesting timeframe (typically several years). The other RSU grant, which is essentially outright grant of stock, actually just vested on Feb. 2, which might explain some recent departures of top talent to new jobs.

Said one exec: “Everyone was just biding their time for the RSU to vest and the Microsoft bid just gives everyone an excuse to leave, because it is hard to imagine wanting to work for Yahoo if it gets forcibly taken over.”

The new Yahoo retention packages would again presumably help hold onto talent, if the deal does not go through, while the enhanced severance would give them a comfy escape route if Microsoft (MSFT) takes over.

As an added benefit to Yahoo, which is seeking to escape Microsoft’s embrace, it will make acquiring Yahoo even more pricey for Microsoft. In addition, if it wins Yahoo, the software giant will still have to hand out even more retention benefits to stave off an exodus.

In a follow-up to BoomTown’s story, Kevin Delaney of The Wall Street Journal has more details of the severance plan, which will cover all employees even if they are laid off due to a change of control at the company.

Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang alerted employees to the severance benefits plan in an email Friday, promising specific details would be available to staff today, the story said.