21. In response to Scott's post #19 and in defense of my post #5, I'm afraid Scott is misinformed about AOL's "response." I am an AOL member. I have not received any e-mail from AOL about the search fiasco. I have no idea what Scott is referring to when he says, "Every single member got mail from AOL expressing apology over what happened." Maybe he's referring to a snail mail that's still en route. If you have access to the supposed apology, please post it and let us know the day it was sent.

(By the way, AOL's website is still completely silent as of 8/10. It's pathetic, truly pathetic, that Jason has to link to a CNET article about AOL's response because AOL has not posted a response anywhere.)

Scott's comments about click-and-switch to the free option are at odds with what the WSJ reported this week. According to the WSJ, the click option is a temporary measure to deal with excess call volume. "But the company cautioned that the option may be shut off now that call volumes have subsided, and that the toll-free number is the best way to change." I think the article is still publicly available:
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB115499715104229352-RVlUuR_IEs0ihnS3rfhO9cZBEFU_20060906.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top

I don't deny that there are many good employees at AOL like Scott and Jason. But when I see that even the good employees are defending the company with wrong information (which I assume was supplied to them by the customer-hating side of the company), I know that they are in the minority.

Posted at 5:36PM on Aug 10th 2006 by FE

22. You just received some positive press from Valleywag of all places.

Here it is on Netscape: http://tech.netscape.com/story/2006/08/10/why-jason-calacanis-matters/

And Digg:
http://digg.com/tech_news/Why_Jason_Calacanis_matters

And Reddit:
http://reddit.com/info/d2ae/comments

Congrats!!!

Posted at 7:08PM on Aug 10th 2006 by Scott-O-Rama

23. >>"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."

This is a great point. AOL is by far the worst place I've ever worked. There were serious issues with the new AOL.com page that rolled out last July that I was constantly pointing out to my manager and they were ignored until the last minute, when my manager's manager found out. Then I had to go into meetings with the people fixing AOL.com glitches to discuss the issue, and they told me that it was so serious that they might have to delay the release date of the new AOL.com portal. I think it worked out at the end, that they made the release date, but the point is that I was constantly having problems with a horrible manager--and I know as a fact that 90 percent of the team had the same issues, and some even went over this manager's head, but their comments were ignored. Eventually, the talented people left that team to find other work, and this manager who is lazy and lost has been promoted and continues to bring misery into the lives of those under him/her.

I left AOL with my eyes wide-open to what causes the downfall of huge corporation.

Posted at 7:30PM on Aug 10th 2006 by Dave D.

24. I was a fan of AOL for years when it was the hottest big thing in the world of dotcoms, and then laughed along with everyone else when it became the ISP of moms and grandmoms everywhere. but every my every interaction with the company since their acquisition of Weblogs, Inc. has been amazing. in any customer service-oriented business, there are going to be snafus from time-to-time. customer service is tough.

but i think aol has been extremely smart in hiring brilliant, forward-thinking management over the past five years and it's really starting to pay off. i've been amazed at the nimbleness and proactive thinking of everyone i've worked with in my six months with the company, and they've been terrifically supportive of this new class of virtual employees. aol is, truly, the best company for which i've ever worked.

from this corner of aol, there are no morale issues. i love my job and i love my colleagues (hi victor! hi judith!). for what it's worth.

Posted at 9:52PM on Aug 10th 2006 by sarah gilbert

25. I really appreciate the fact that Jason is blogging with an open mind combined with his inside knowledge of what's going on. I think it's amazing that the corporate folks actually let him do this kind of criticism.

Having said that, I did cancel my AOL account a few days ago following that "issue" named "Data Valdez". While I was for some time in the holding pattern of the hotline, the rep I finally talked to was friendly, handling my request professionally. So I did not encounter "The Call" scenario. :-)

As for the future of AOL - I see more layoffs as the company will struggle to adjust for lost revenue and profit. I see AOL becoming less important, unless they find a real USP quickly. I agree with Jason that the "we do not store your searches" might be an excellent story, because nobody else will be doing this (not Google, not Yahoo!, not MSN). Playing the "privacy card" might be an awesome move and drive customers towards AOL. (Note: This needs full support from marketing, otherwise it won't work.)

Other than that, AOL may get some market share in certain areas, but when I look at Google or Yahoo! I am rather pessimistic. Those few features where AOL is actually leading the pack will be copied by the big players if necessary.

In a way it's bad to see the company heading this way. Then again, I do not have strong feelings for AOL. At the end, it's just a company, like so many other companies. Companies come and go. Products, services, and features come and go. Even Google may be history sometime in the future. So why bother?

Posted at 4:20AM on Aug 11th 2006 by Mark

26. I think the people at AOL need to stop pretending everything is going well and start admitting that there are huge, fundamental problems in the company that must be addressed.

This private data was there for *ten days!* before *ANYONE* realized that it was a bad idea. I do agree with an earlier posting which said that AOL could use this as an opportunity to spearhead a true online PRIVACY movement.

Posted at 8:40AM on Aug 11th 2006 by Carl

27. I don't question the sincerity behind the apologies or the people who are issuing them. But I do question the decision making ability and organizational structure within the company involved in that decision. I understand that mistakes happen in all companies, but not a mistake of this magnitude. There was a cascade of errors that led to the release of this information. Apologies won't fix the problems in AOL nor do they excuse the omission and comission of actions from the people involved in the decision to release the data.

Posted at 9:03AM on Aug 11th 2006 by doug spencer

28. It seems obvious to me that AOL has always been the lame-o Internet solution provider. It's not clear what their value proposition is for the consumer. AOL was cool when the Commodore 64 was cool. It's been downhill for AOL since. The last time I had to uninstall AOL software that I never wanted on my PC in the first place is reason enough to explain how outdated, tired and annoying they are. It was like trying to get rid of a virus. All I wanted to do was shake my AOL disease... what a pain! Fortunately they have TW to hold their sinking ship together for longer than usual. AOL can't change, because they won't change, because they have never changed. They are stuck in AOL-land and can't even see their fatal flaws. And if they do, they'll turn their newfound passion into a hollow marketing program to whore-out themselves to the greatest number of potential customers. They've been doing it for years! AOL... you are BORING!

Posted at 7:26AM on Aug 12th 2006 by Billy