I met with AOL’s (TWX) EVP Curt Viebranz not long ago and now I learn that he is fired. He was appointed the new President of Platform A four weeks ago. Platform A in an umbrella group under which AOL’s advertising properties are organized. Curt was previously President of TACODA, a behavioral targeting ad network. Here is a list of their advertising acquisitions to date:

* Feb 2008, Buy.At, online affiliate marketing network
* Feb 2008, Goowy, widget creator
* July 2007, TACODA, behavioral targeting ad network
* May 2007, ADTECH AG, ad-serving and e-mail marketing network
* May 2007, Third Screen Media, mobile ad serving
* May 2006, LightningCast, streaming video/audio ad serving
* June 2004, Advertising.com, direct-response network

Henry Blodget has the scoop on why Curt was fired.

We have been told that Curt was fired by AOL’s COO, Ron Grant, because Ron wanted Curt to commit to revenue growth that Curt did not believe was possible given the rapid deterioration of AOL’s owned-and-operated properties. We have been told that Curt told Ron he could not deliver Ron’s numbers, and Ron sacked him.

We have also been told that the initial Platform A concept was poorly defined and that Curt was essentially destined to fail. Lastly–in contrast to the assertion above–we have been told that Curt was not fired because of revenue targets but because Ron had lost faith in his ability to rapidly and smoothly integrate multiple companies into Platform A (Translation: In Ron’s eyes, Curt was incompetent).

Our understanding is that Curt is and was well-respected within Time Warner and is considered a strong executive. One source believes the numbers Ron wants to achieve are very aggressive–accounting neither for the deteriorating economy nor the decline in value of AOL’s general portal advertising inventory. The source says revenue at AOL’s owned-and-operated properties (a.k.a., the portal) is falling off a cliff, and that the relatively small revenue at Platform A cannot offset this.