AOL's Platform-A Lands Verizon Deal, No. 1 Network Ranking

(MoneyWatch)  Not a bad day for AOL's Platform-A ad network. First, the company announced a major deal with Verizon, in which Platform-A will rep all of its online advertising, as well as most of its mobile advertising:

Under the terms of the agreement, Verizon will leverage Platform-A's sales capabilities for all of Verizon's online inventory and a majority of Verizon's mobile inventory. In addition, Platform-A will be the only sales organization that can represent Verizon's inventory in the marketplace and guarantee placement within the Verizon network.

Then, comScore.com released its ad network metrics for March, and Platform-A topped the list:

Platform-A, the AOL ad network that combines Advertising.com, Quigo and Tacoda, served ads to 170 million U.S. Internet users in March, representing 91 percent of the total U.S. online population, to rank as the top ad network.

Both announcements must come as a relief to Platform-A staffers. The ad network has been dogged by rumors that Platform-A was about to lose 50 percent of it staffers, rumors started when ex-CEO Curt Viebranz was ousted and replaced with Lynda Clarizio.