In a press release statement today it is reported that Google Senior Vice President Tim Armstrong will replace Randy Falco as AOL's new Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Falco, along with President and COO Ron Grant, plans to leave AOL after a brief transition period.
Best known for developing Google's online advertising business, Armstrong began his career with the Mountain View, California search giant in 2000. He was a member of Google's Operating Committee and served as the President of the Americas Operations.
In terms of traffic or advertising assets AOL is behind both Yahoo! and Google and recently the company has cut back in terms of its blogging strategy. With data portability and a "walled garden" approach to web services happening all around it, this could be part of AOL's attempt to stay in the game with these bigger players. TechCrunch first reported on the news, so be sure to read their take here. Be sure to read through the ReadWriteWeb archives for more information about recent changes related to AOL and read CNET News coverage of this story here. UPDATE: Kara Swisher got a chance to interview Armstrong, who begins April 7th, today on her BoomTown blog.
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