While Google and Microsoft battle over online advertising, AOL has quietly named a new president for its Platform-A group. Lynda Clarizio assumed the reins as part of the consolidation plan for AOL’s advertising business. Platform-A combines Advertising.com, Tacoda, Lightningcast, Ad Tech and Third Screen Media.
Clarizio previously served as president of Advertising.com. In her new role, she will lead AOL’s advertising network and report to AOL president and COO Ron Grant.
“Lynda Clarizio is the perfect choice to lead Platform-A to its next stage of growth as we consolidate and integrate the organization, and focus on bringing our unmatched advertising network to market,” Grant said. “There’s no one better qualified to do this than Lynda, whose track record at Advertising.com has been nothing short of stellar.”
The Promise of Platform-A
Clarizio replaced Curt Viebranz, a former president of Tacoda who became Platform-A’s first president at its launch last fall. Clarizio came to AOL from the Washington, D.C., law firm of Arnold & Porter, where she was a partner and served as AOL’s outside counsel on transactional matters.
“With Platform-A, we are creating a unified suite of marketing solutions to enable advertisers to harness the full power of digital media to meet their marketing needs,” Clarizio said. “We also offer publishers a comprehensive set of tools and technologies to manage and monetize their advertising inventory. As Platform-A evolves, 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.”
AOL has spent nearly $1 billion on online advertising acquisitions to build Platform-A. The unit leverages consumer brands like AIM, Moviefone, MapQuest and AOL.com; behavioral targeting through Tacoda; and Advertising.com’s reach across multiple networks. According to comScore Media Metrix, Platform-A reached 167 million unique visitors in February and reaches 90 percent of the…