"AOL" to be dropped like a bad smell?

AOL Time Warner is considering dropping the "AOL" moniker from its corporate name, the company confirmed Monday.

Members of AOL Time Warner's board of directors may consider the issue when they meet in September. Should the name change go through, AOL Time Warner would revert back to Time Warner.

In an email memo forwarded to silicon.com's US sister site News.com, the AOL unit's CEO, Jonathan Miller, said he approached AOL Time Warner CEO Richard Parsons with the suggestion to drop the AOL from AOL Time Warner.

Miller wrote: "Since the merger in early 2001, the three letters AOL have ceased to stand for the internet and the promise it entails and instead have become the shorthand for the world's largest media company. As AOL Time Warner became known as, for all intents and purposes, 'AOL', any controversy or criticism involving the corporate entity has actually hit our consumer brand."

This is not the first time AOL has been considered for removal from the corporate AOL Time Warner name. Board members last year were considering the drop in the hope of stripping away an association with its embattled Internet division.

An AOL Time Warner representative said: "Richard Parsons and senior management are considering a name change as a result of the America Online request. But this will be a decision that will be made in due course with the board."

The possibility of a name change comes as AOL Time Warner continues to watch its AOL division crumble.

Besides AOL's bleak outlook for online advertising revenue, its dial-up subscriber base, long considered its rock of stability, last quarter by declined by 846,000 members - as members defect to broadband ISPs.

AOL Time Warner also continues to face investigations by the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the US Department of Justice over allegations that the AOL unit improperly reported online advertising revenue.

Reports in recent weeks have surfaced that AOL offered heavily discounted subscriptions in bulk to retail partners to show continued growth.

The company hopes recently launched new services may yet stem the tide of member defections, with AOL 8 in the UK and AOL 9.0 Optimized, which focuses on multimedia content for broadband users in the US, being touted by the ailing firm.

Jim Hu writes for News.com