Hasta La Creative!

The Wall Street Journal is shining some light on AOL’s efforts to integrate Advertising.com with the other ad-technology firms they recently purchased, all of which have different areas of expertise, from behavioral targeting to video ads.

AOL’s future largely hinges on the success of that transformation, which involves aggressively slashing costs, forsaking billions of dollars in overall subscription revenue, and laying off thousands of employees.

Lynda Clarizio, 47, a nine-year veteran of AOL, is leading the way. Clarizio led the team that acquired Advertising.com in 2004 for $435 million. That unit has accounted for nearly a quarter of AOL’s revenue and is one of the fastest-growing parts of the company.

Trained as a lawyer, Clarizio is known internally for an analytical mind and an ability to delegate. A graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School, she came to AOL from Washington law firm Arnold & Porter, where she was a partner for seven years and also worked as an AOL outside counsel.