IP Democracy: AOL's Data Valdez

AOL’s massive publication of users’ search data has been dissected and debated and heavily covered by the press and blogosphere so there’s not much to add to the discussion, except this: AOL is one run-down company and the “data Valdez,” as some are calling it, came at the worst possible time.

Just take a look at the blog entries of some of AOL’s top executives. Ted Leonsis says

I personally feel just awful about it. After we have worked so hard to build our users’ trust and protect their privacy for so many years, a single mistake can put it all at risk. In my time as an AOL executive, this is one of our saddest days.

Even hyper-energized Jason Calacanis has been slowed down by all of this. He’s taking some time off from blogging before he says something he will regret.

I was so angry today that I had to get off my computer and do a three-mile run. I’m back at my desk but I’m still seething—how could this happen?! Everyone is working so hard to get AOL on the right track, and it all gets forgotten when this kind of thing happens.

I think I’m gonna take the rest of the week off from blogging as a “cool down”period. I don’t want to say something I regret, and I don’t want to become the spokesperson for the entire company—that’s not my job and it’s not my desire. I just want to build cool stuff with cool people I respect.

David at Blog Herald offers up some PR crisis management tips, but leads off with the following statement:

AOL hasn’t had good PR in so long I can’t even think of anything good about this company.

How will AOL’s management team turn things around with this kind of malaise hanging over the company? If there were any momentum sparked by the risky gamble to forego paid member revenues in favor of bigger and better web advertising, it’s probably been snuffed out by this data spill.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on August 10, 2006 4:33 PM to IP Democracy