• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, March 12, 2008

Curt Viebranz was sacked as president of AOL's Platform-A division because he wasn't integrating its various parts fast enough, a source close to the situation said Tuesday.

"It was not his choice," said the source. "The consolidation was moving too slowly."

News of Viebranz's ouster was met this week with shock and confusion by many of his peers.

"Everybody's surprised by it," said Dave Morgan, who recently left AOL just three months after being named executive vice president of its global advertising strategy.

"And I'm just as surprised as anybody," added Morgan, founder of behavioral targeting ad firm Tacoda, which Viebranz oversaw as CEO before it was acquired by AOL last July.

With AOL for six months, Viebranz was leading a major reorganization at the helm of Platform A--a unit comprised of multiple AOL-owned companies, including Tacoda, Advertising.com, the video-focused Lightningcast, contextual ad firm Quigo, affiliate marketing network Buy.at, and mobile ad network Third Screen Media.

But AOL top brass appear to have more faith in Viebranz's replacement--Lynda Clarizio and the current president of Advertising.com--to affect change and consolidation within Platform-A.

"Lynda has a tremendous track record with alignment efforts," said a source.

Viebranz himself could not be reached for comment.

AOL had no comment on what was wrong with Viebranz; only what is right about Clarizio. Said Ron Grant, AOL's chief operating officer, in a statement: "Lynda Clarizio is the perfect choice to lead Platform-A to its next stage of growth, as we consolidate and integrate the organization ... There's no one better qualified to do this than Lynda, whose track record at Advertising.com has been nothing short of stellar."

Her mission clear, Clarizio said in a statement: "We are creating a unified suite of marketing solutions ... We will be organizing ourselves to create stronger alignment among our teams to put us in the best possible position to achieve our strategic goals."

Prior to joining Advertising.com in May 2006, Clarizio was an executive vice president at AOL, responsible for strategy, finance and business development of AOL's Audience business.

She held several other positions throughout her nine years at AOL, including senior vice president for corporate strategic and financial planning, and senior vice president for acquisitions and strategic investments. In the latter role, she led AOL's acquisition of Advertising.com.