1. It's certainly a big mistake Jason but I for one think the prgress at AOL lately definitely outweighs all the other stuff.
I liked your post,it shows a public face.

"when the going gets though the tough get going"

Posted at 5:13PM on Aug 9th 2006 by Pat Phelan

2. Jason,

There's a golden opportunity here for AOL to spearhead a new era of consumer privacy protection.

Most web users don't like the notion that you guys, and your competitors, are sitting on huge stashes of intimate data about us.

Start there. Urge industry cooperation on setting some kind of meaningful privacy guidelines.

Maybe AOL, Google, Yahoo et al could collectively promise to purge your logs every quarter, or to decouple search data from unique identifiers.

Life just gave you a lemon. Make some lemonade.

Posted at 5:22PM on Aug 9th 2006 by Kevin Murphy

3. AOL has made some positive moves ... and a couple of egregious moves. The negative always gets more press, but it will even out over time.

I would ask the smart people that I was interviewing what they knew about all the positive things, and how long they thought is was going to take before the weight of all the positive things tipped the scales back in that direction.

Posted at 5:24PM on Aug 9th 2006 by Les

4. The strange synchronicity between the announcement of significant layoffs and this huge SNAFU raises one question:

How many of the ex-"research" team will be on the list of people being laid off?

I'm not even suggesting the chicken-and-egg debate at this point, but it's something to think about.

Posted at 6:29PM on Aug 9th 2006 by Dossy Shiobara

5. There are certain companies that hate their customers. Think of the cable companies, or the legacy airlines. Or the banks that tried imposing teller fees to discourage their customers from setting foot in their branches.

AOL is a company that hates its customers. It is part of the corporate culture.

Look at AOL's "response" to the data release. AOL has limited its "response" to talking to the press. AOL has not apologized to, or even notified, any of its members. If you go to the AOL.com website, the data release is not even mentioned. (The only press release today is titled "AOL To Offer Personalized Email Domains for Free to All Web Users.") Subscribers have to get all their information about the controversy from the media or other websites.

If you go to AOL keyword Privacy, it still spouts nonsense like: "We do not use information about your personal navigation outside the AOL Service without your consent," even though it is (was?) the mission of AOL Research to do exactly that.

Maybe the breach was an anomaly, even by AOL's customer-hating standards. So let's take a more typical example. As the Wall Street Journal reported this week, AOL won't let customers make a painless click-and-switch to the free service. Instead, customers have to call, be put on hold, and listen to a save pitch from a CSR. It's as if "the Call" never happened.

In the short run, you can make money by hating your customers, especially in noncompetitive industries. But in the long run, it doesn't pay off if your customers have alternatives. That's why AOL's numbers look like a ski slope.

My suggestion: AOL needs to take a day, or better yet, a week, to do nothing but explain to its employees that the customer-hating days are over. Then it should adopt a new motto: "What would Google do?"

Posted at 6:40PM on Aug 9th 2006 by FE

6. I remember just a few years ago working at a sports equipment company as their webmaster. During our corporate retreat, we talked about how many sales it takes to recoup the loss of just one return. And that's not even counting the total business lost if that one customer never does business with us again.

Of course, this is worse. I always go back to myself, fist raised in anger, over my many Macintosh computers that failed to deliver... but I knew that the product, overall, was good. And that the people making this thing had the very best of intentions. And I should not let one or two screwups (that were not intentional, I'm sure) spoil me on the whole enchilada.

It speaks to the character of the leaders when they are vocal, passionate, and honest on these issues. Anyone remember Perrier's infamous "benzene" PR disaster? AOL is no Perrier. I wouldn't work for AOL if I believed otherwise.

Posted at 6:42PM on Aug 9th 2006 by Victor Agreda Jr

7. I think AOL needs to take the following steps:

1) Publicly apologize to all current and past members. Tell them the truth, "We've screwed up badly recently as well as in the past. We are going to be a new company going forward, and we want to win back your trust and respect." Be sincere. Mean it.

2) Get the message out however possible (advertising, communication to members, blogs, etc) that the AOL of the past is going away. This is a new company.

3) Let users air their gripes. Set up a public website or blog for them to do so. Address each and everyone even if they only thing you can say is "I'm sorry." A personal reply will go miles in reestablishing trust.

4) Feedback! Feedback! Feedback! Publicly solicit as much feedback as you can. Run ads if you need to that say "We've made mistakes, but we're going to change that. We need YOU to tell us how to make a better AOL."

5) Assume nothing. Don't assume your users want a particular service just because other portals are implementing it. Find out what your users want. Don't tell them what they want. The new AOL "Streamliner" is a good example. It's cool looking, but is this something your users asked for?

6) Act on the feedback. Make your operations very transparent. If users say that want ___, tell them what you are doing to bring them ____. If it's in development, tell them. If it's not, don't lie about it. Set expectations on when user can expect the changes.

7) Don't force things on the users they don't want. AIM Triton is a perfect example of this. When it first came out, it bundled AOL Explorer with it. Users who wanted Triton got AOL Explorer whether they wanted it or not, and by the comments I saw, most didn't. Even though it is not longer bundled, the damage to Triton's reputation has been done. People are afraid to download it for fear of getting all that extra crap.

8) Don't let marketing run the company. Sure, putting "Install AOL" icons all over someone's desktop when they download AIM may get you an extra user or two, but it most cases people are turned off by it. Instead develop great products that sell themselves.

9) In regards to rule #8, don't let advertising overrun and clutter up your sites. Sure, AOL needs to make up for a loss in subscription revenue by growing advertising. If users tell you though that a site has too many ads, listen to them. Figure out a way to incorporate ads in a way that doesn't jeopardize the user experience. In the end, more users will come to your site, and your advertising space will be worth more.


These are just a few of my thoughts on what AOL needs to do. Most important of these I think is AOL really showing the public that it IS trying to become a new company. I'm rooting for the new AOL to succeed, but it has a lot of work to do to get there.

Posted at 8:35PM on Aug 9th 2006 by Scott-O-Rama

8. What AOL really needs to do is make their customers trust them. With out customer trust you have nothing. AOL is always the bad person to every one and whenever news of AOL comes up it's always the negative and the positive needs to be brought up. If people are to use AOL it needs to beat it's competitors and be user friendly. I bet some would love to use AOL but wouldn't touch it with a pole because the thought of getting burned is always iminent to them.

Posted at 9:28PM on Aug 9th 2006 by Tanner godarzi

9. The question I have is - does aol have an systemic management problem? Are the employees allowed to raise issue with possible policy problems without fear of repercussion? This cycle of bad mistake after bad mistake is indicative of a environment where employees are afraid of raising issues for fear of facing reprimand. Jason, I'm glad you'ure bringing more good to AOL, but you are just one person. I hope you have enough champions to help fight the good fight.

Also, why aren't all the aol features included in the free version? I tried to enter chat, and it seems that is not allowed. Lets face it, AOL is like a super version of myspace. It is all about the community. Disabling chat (or other features) will not help attract people to the service. It may help to stop the bleeding, but that strategy hasn't worked in the past, and will not work now. Give the customers what they want!

Posted at 10:49PM on Aug 9th 2006 by nick

10. Yeah, you've really had a PR nightmare on your hands as of late, Jason. More people should be blogging this too. I second the "hey, we really screwed up and here's what were are going so it doesn't happen again" approach. But I'm not sure who's doing AOL's PR.

Posted at 11:12PM on Aug 9th 2006 by Blake Snow

11. Ok lets look at this from my nerdy little point of view. Aol what is it... A failed company with a whole bunch of cash that is trying to start making cash rather than losing it. My "Experience" with Aol is unfortunate. I subscribed when my switching dsl to cable and hated that time. Its slow its outdated and its annoying. But that was when america online was trying to get people on the web. Now its doing the one thing that made my life horrible. Keeping me in a walled garden. The aol land where its all rosy except when you leave. Aol has censored news, videos, music, content... Sounds like the mgs4 trailer. Its crappy and full of copy cats who continue to try and make it seem like this is the new google. Its not its aol a timewanner cable group that I go to every month because wow you got on digg or twit or cnet. Then leave and forget. I am sorry Jason I like Joystiq and engadget and web blogs inc but this aol netscape crap is just annoying. I think you lost what makes that stuff great... You made web blogs inc.. and We know you because of that but if you want aol to work I am sorry it wont. You CANT CHANGE ITS IMAGE.. But if you abandoned respun and started a new company/division in time wanner with new people and new ideas. Maybe you can capture what your looking for.

Posted at 12:01AM on Aug 10th 2006 by Matthew Moore

12. Rather than encourage senior execs to blog, how about encouraging them to leave?

It seems only a handful of them are genuinely interesting in seeing the company succeed. If I were Jon Miller I'd start the layoffs with the retards who let this happen.

Also, the member services manager in charge of retentions. Whoever let Jason Smathers ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Smathers ) run amok. And any other exec who has this kind of thing happen under their watch.

What happened to corporate accountability? I guess SOX can only reach so far.

Posted at 8:08AM on Aug 10th 2006 by robotrock

13. AOL transformed the way America uses their computer. It's really a shame that they didn't catch on to the broadband bandwagon soon enough - it's like those case studies where X company dominates in Y industry, but misses out on closely related Z opportunity.

If AOL would have adopted Netscape a long time ago, and ditched the nasty and slow interface they currently use -- then paired up with broadband - they probably would have had a clear winner. Unfortunately, it didn't workout this way.

Anyway, just remember you're one person, and it would be difficult for you (and only you) to transform the company. Make a big difference? Of course. But do not dispair if success doesn't rain, because the fault was made years ago.

Posted at 9:15AM on Aug 10th 2006 by Robert Dewey

14. - gonna take the rest of the week off from blogging -

I's a good idea, when you're in a hole to stop digging.....

Posted at 9:36AM on Aug 10th 2006 by paul

15. Jason, being a long time fan of AOL and now blogging for you at Weblogsinc, it is a relief that you even care about what happens. Many other companies where privacy has been compromised don't seem to care about the consequences of their actions. It is clear you do, which is the first step. This is why you have the best position right now. It is your opportunity to make this bad thing what you want it to be. Just imagine a news story a few years from now. "After a few key snafus involving customer data a few years ago, AOL has now become the leader in safeguarding their customer's private data. Other companies are now asking what they can do to follow AOL's example and what systems are required to make the misuse of customer data a thing of the past..." Make this your goal, and all you have to do is the work to get it there. America still believes in AOL as a company even after this, but perhaps doesn't trust AOL so much anymore. Once you have regained the trust and put everyone at ease that this will not happen again, you will be fine.

Posted at 11:37AM on Aug 10th 2006 by Ryan Carter

16. I give AOL huge props. AOL is making aggressive smart moves. Keep doing your thing.

Posted at 1:37PM on Aug 10th 2006 by peter caputa

17. The problem of making this data public was inexcusable. How many peopledepartments did this decision have to clear before it was made public? Testing, development, management,legal, executive? Despite the type of hoped for diligence to insure that overt actions do not morph into major errors, here sits AOL trying once again to understand their errors of commission andor ommission.

Other than major institutional changes that change a)processes andor b)people in a decision making capacity, I see no reason to believe that AOL will change its ways. I've worked for an 800 LB gorilla company before and I fully understand how institutional changes do or do not occur in a corporate environment. Unless AOL goes through a significant personality and process change, errors of judgment and action will continue to occur. Apologies are only effective when there are associated changes that will lead to eliminating blatant incompetent actions and decisions.

Posted at 1:51PM on Aug 10th 2006 by doug spencer

18. This is not related, but I think you might also want to look at http://www.andykessler.com for his book that came out in July.

Posted at 3:18PM on Aug 10th 2006 by Brandon Bailey

19. I work for AOL, not a manager but someone in the trenches. The perception of AOL above and everywhere is simply bad, and in most cases wrong. For instance, you can change to the free account online (it was not up the first 2 days), Chat rooms are being worked on and will be fixed shortly and is in the FAQ. Also "Look at AOL's "response" to the data release. AOL has limited its "response" to talking to the press. AOL has not apologized to, or even notified, any of its members." Every single member got mail from AOL expressing apology over what happened.

I understand this perception as it seems that bad news is everywhere, but I guarantee AOL does not "hate its customers" and that issues like the call are one in a million, and dealt with when discovered. It is NOT AOL policy to act this way. It is monitored and if found, you are walking. Unfortunately for me, and all the other employees like Jason, we simply can not say this. It must be proved to you. This is why he, and I, get so angry when one thing slips up all the work we get done. I work hard for YOU, the customer, and want you to be happy and use AOL.

We are also constantly bashed by people who had AOL 3 years ago, comparing it to what the web is now. To criticize you really should look at what AOL has now and make your judgement. AOL did have problems with moving forward, I hope and see change with that. Now we need our users to see the same thing.

Posted at 3:39PM on Aug 10th 2006 by Scott

20. Google spills information all the time ;). Maybe you should be in that business.

Posted at 3:45PM on Aug 10th 2006 by Matt