An unnamed executive from AOL unit Advertising.com claims that new Platform A czar Lynda Clarizio will be cutting around half of AOL's sales force as part of a plan to integrate the company's ad
network properties. The source reveals that Advertising.com, which had been running as a stand-alone AOL subsidiary, will now be the central hub of its advertising services business. The sales forces
of AOL, Quigo, Tacoda and the Time Warner company's other recent acquisitions will all be integrated with that into Ad.com.
According to the source, Clarizio, the former head of Ad.com,
plans to put Ad.com executives in all key leadership positions inside the combined company. Mark Ellis is the only AOL sales leader likely to survive, and either he or Don Kennedy will become Platform
A's second-in-command behind Clarizio.
Meanwhile, the source says Ad.com workers aren't happy about the changes. "Most [Advertising.com employees] would rather stay separate as all the
acquisitions haven't helped Ad.com at all revenue wise" he or she says, adding that "many" senior Ad.com executives have left the company in the past six months.
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