Following the AOL search data release scandal, AOL did a pretty abysmal job in managing the crisis. They released public statements, commented on various blogs that admonished and sometimes annihilated AOL. However, the damage was done and specific users were identified (though I am not sure of the numbers here).
Now, following the debacle, heads have started rolling at AOL. The first to go is Maureen Govern with two other employees.
Michael Arrington in Techcrunch writes;
From my discussion with Andrew Weinstein, the AOL spokesperson who apologized on behalf of AOL after the data dump, my understanding is that this entire event was caused by a single clueless researcher and a complete lack of oversight by his managers. Hopefully these firings are tied to the actual people responsible and not just for the sake of holding someone, anyone, responsible.Yeah, even I hope that scapegoats are not made out of innocent employees. However, notwithstanding the fact that now some have been put to the sword, I can’t see how AOL is going to recover from the load of mess that it has landed itself into.
I can only feel for AOL whose shares fell 5 cents to $16.50 on the New York Stock Exchange and the employees who have to go now.
Via: eWeek
