• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, June 27, 2007

AOL News has relaunched as an ultra-clean blog that's big on interactive features like polls and user-submitted and shared material.

With the new site, AOL joins the ranks of media companies that have relinquished editorial and design control to consumers whose attention increasingly rests on their ability to affect the content they consume.

"News habits have changed, and AOL News is the first site designed from the ground up to appeal to today's online news consumer," said Lewis D'Vorkin, senior vice president, AOL News and Sports. "We believe that AOL News will set the standard for other major online news sites."

Some major news sites, however, had previously caught on. Publishers that have already embraced interactivity and social features include The New York Times and USA Today, which has recorded a near 400% jump in online registrations since relaunching earlier this year.

New to AOL's site, the center column of the main news page features regularly updated top news stories, selected by AOL's editorial news staff and delivered blog-style. This column also features embedded video, photos and polls.

The left side of the new page features stories that are generating the most user interest, including most popular and most-commented-on stories, along with user-submitted news.

The site also includes in-depth features, called Topics Pages, on a wide range of stories, such as elections, health and science.