Credibility Gap: HuffPo Acquisition Blows AOL Traffic Away
- Last Updated on 01 April 2012
Don’t expect Tim Armstrong to send Arianna Huffington flowers as an anniversary gift.
One year after getting into bed with the media princess and plunking down $315 million to buy the Huffington Post, the AOL boss has seen traffic on his Web site fall to where the ubiquitous e-mail voice should be saying, “You Got Nailed.”
Consider this: AOL had 78.9 million unique visitors prior to the acquisition. Recent Nielsen numbers show a drop-off to 73.6 million.
Analysts ripped Armstrong for overpaying at the time, and an OTM insider goes so far as to call it his “biggest mistake to date.”
“A total disaster from the beginning,” our source, who covers the market, said. “Between all the layoffs and redesign, it’s amazing anyone would want to work at HuffPo. They’re chasing the competition now rather than leading it.”
Speaking of Armstrong, we hear he’s making a lot of noise over at the World Economic Summit in Davos, Switzerland.
Armstrong, 45, had successful hip-replacement surgery last year to repair the joint injured when he was younger. But with security so tight at the yearly winter econ-fest, the AOL chief is setting off every security checkpoint with his bionic joint.
"Question all which is 'taught,' dig deeper, think clearly, respond profusely. Conformity is the antithesis of free thought and self-determination." -- Standard Pearls