SEC Sues Former AOL Execs For Ad Scam
from the the-case-that-keeps-on-giving dept
It’s somewhat amazing that this case is still going on, but AOL’s sneaky ad deals to boost its own revenue are still the target of lawsuits. Back in 2006, we noted that federal prosecutors had decided that it wasn’t worth prosecuting the executives involved. However, it appears that the SEC feels differently. It’s now sued eight former AOL execs for taking part in the scam — though, four of them have already settled. If you don’t recall, AOL had this nice little trick where it would “swap” ads with other sites, where no money changed hands, but both sides would record revenue. That let them boost revenue (up to a billion dollars for AOL) without any actual revenue coming in. It’s a nice little trick… and it’s also illegal. Though, it all took place in the 2000/2001 timeframe, so it’s not clear why it took the SEC seven years to do something about it.
Filed Under: ads, dot com bubble, revenue, sec
Companies: aol
Comments on “SEC Sues Former AOL Execs For Ad Scam”
That'll teach the little bastards a lesson!
Crime doesn’t pay. Oh, you said these crimes occurred in 2000/2001? Thanks for being on top of your game, SEC.
Re: That'll teach the little bastards a lesson!
Isn,t the statute of limitations 6 years for these matters?
dirty tricks
how can a struggling company like AOL grow if all the executive intelligence is channeled for dirty and useless tricks like this?