Levick is expected to join the Time Warner unit in several weeks where he will report directly to AOL chairman and CEO -- and former Google colleague -- Tim Armstrong.

"I've worked with Jeff for more than seven years at Google," said Armstrong, who left Google for AOL in March. "He is absolutely the right person to drive growth in our premium ad sales, dramatically scale our Advertising.com business, and further develop AOL's research initiatives and consumer insights."

In turn, one-time Yahoo executive Greg Coleman will be leaving Platform-A, where he has served as president since early February.

Levick, for his part, said AOL's future looks bright. "I firmly believe that AOL's best days are ahead of it," he said. "The company has one of the largest and most engaged audiences on the Web, some of the best advertising technology in the business, and a powerful third-party network."

For better or worse, it is looking more likely that AOL's future will be an independent one. Time Warner on Wednesday revealed preliminary plans to spin off all or some piece of AOL in a regulatory filing. Time Warner even went so far as to separate AOL on its earnings release, also posted Wednesday.

In February, Time Warner head Jeff Bewkes explicitly said that spinning off all or part of AOL was a viable option for the New York-based company. Bewkes hiring Armstrong as the unit's chairman and chief executive was also widely interpreted as a step in that direction.

Last month, an AOL insider told industry blogger Kara Swisher that Armstrong "would not have taken the job if the plans for a spin out of AOL were not in place ... The only catch is the poor economy, but even that should not prevent Time Warner from doing what's right to finally fix AOL."

At Google since 2001, Levick most recently served as vice president of industry development and marketing, where he was responsible for business marketing activities for the Americas as well as sales development and strategy for all of the vertical industries covered by Google's Americas sales organization.

This news story is important. I recommend that everyone read it.