Following the search privacy scandal that occurred in the company's research department, AOL has decided to shut down the department altogether.

Why? Apparently the people that AOL had to sack in connection with the scandal basically comprised the whole department. There have been mixed emotions about the department shutting down, some say that with AOL's tremendous customer data that could've been put to good use, the news is quite disheartening. Some people on the other hand see the research company shut down as something that they have anticipated, if not expected.

Google owns 5% of AOL, and some are saying that AOL could and/or should outsource all their customer data to Google if they want to keep the company alive. Hmm...now that's an idea...