What do you think of when you hear the name “AOL”? Dialup? Your parents’ email? Alas, this is AOL’s brand problem. But don’t worry! At least people have heard of it!

That was AOL CEO Tim Armstrong‘s message at today’s Media Minds breakfast, where he said, “It’s incredibly expensive to implant a chip in someone’s head so they know what the name of your company is.” He shared that, up until 2006, AOL had spent $22 billion on marketing. As a result, “almost every country I go to in the world, people know AOL,” said Armstrong.

“We’re going to invest in things from a brand standpoint that human beings love. AOL is already planted in your head and [we'll] back fill it with awesome things — you’re going to love AOL again.”

Readers: Could you love AOL again? Did you ever love AOL?

Our sister site 10,000 Words has more on the event.

Facebook is moving in with AOL and The Huffington Post. According to Crain’s New York, the social network giant has signed a 10 year lease for a 100,000 square feet space, in the building that AOL and HuffPost already call home.

As part of the deal, Facebook will be taking 770 Broadway’s entire eighth floor and some of its seventh. There’s also an option for Facebook to increase its space to 160,000 feet in two years.

Crain’s estimates that space at the Midtown South spot goes for around $70 per square foot, so Facebook is dropping about $7 million a year to be there.

The company must like the location a lot. Or: By moving to 770 Broadway, Facebook is really updating its status. Either one.

Cyndi Stivers is joining AOL as editor-in-chief of AOL.com. Stivers most recently served the same role for Columbia Journalism Review. She has previously held senior editorial positions at Entertainment Weekly, Time Out New York and Premiere.

In a note announcing the hire, Chris Grosso, senior vice president and general manager of AOL Homepages, wrote, “As we evolve AOL.com as a content destination, we will look to Cyndi to ensure the site showcases the most compelling stories relevant to our viewers and drive a distinctive editorial voice. We’ll also be relying on her creativity to help us ignite our live programming and add more opportunities for visitors to engage with each other around our content.”

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Pink Slips For A Dozen-Plus Daily News Staffers (Capital New York)
The New York Daily News is now undergoing what employees of the tabloid have been fearing for weeks: Multiple insiders tell Capital that layoffs hit the newsroom Wednesday. FishbowlNY Two veterans of the paper — Albor Ruiz and Joanna Molloy — were among those let go. Ruiz had been with the Daily News for 19 years; Molloy for 15. Other names in the bunch include Christina Boyle and Robert Gearty, both reporters. NY Observer Rumors have been circulating for some time that a round of pink slips was imminent at the Daily News. Although this is the most significant number of layoffs since editor-in-chief Colin Myler took over in November 2011, there has been a slow trickle of departures over the past months. Features editor John Oswald left in March and features reporter Jacob Osterhout vented his rage in a goodbye email after he was let go earlier this spring. Read more

AOL had some positives in its first quarter earnings report. Total revenue for the company was up two percent compared to last year, hitting $538 million. Ad sales were also up nine percent, from $330 million to $359 million.

Those are good signs, but as always, the hilarious highlight of any AOL earnings report is noting that it’s still raking in lots of cash from people using its dial-up service. Though subscription revenue declined nine percent for Q1, those customers who continue to live in 1999 brought the company $165 million.

“AOL’s strategy of being the first scaled media and technology company is clearly represented in our results today, and we will continue to aggressively drive the company toward near-and long-term growth,” said Tim Armstrong, the company’s CEO, in a statement.

Peter Land has been named senior vice president of corporate communications at AOL. He comes to the company from PepsiCo, where he most recently served as head of communications. Land has been with PepsiCo since 2009. Prior to that he was a global managing director at Edelman.

“With more than 25 years of senior level communications experience working for several of the world’s leading media companies and brands, Peter’s ability to navigate the dynamic media and digital environments, develop and manage teams worldwide and work strategically and effectively in both the consumer marketing and corporate reputation arenas will make him a critically important member of our leadership team,” wrote Tim Armstrong, CEO of AOL, in a note.

Land will report to Armstrong.

Who’d have thought? A year ago shares of AOL were trading at half of what they’re going for today.

Today’s jump, up more than 7 percent at last check, is due to a Barclays upgrade of the much maligned company from “equal weight” to “overweight.” AOL’s stock is up more than 100 percent in the last year: today trading at $38.90 vs. $19.19 a year ago today.

That’s just the latest good news for AOL stock. In late February, Evercore Partners raised its target price on AOL shares to $36, up from $34. Then earlier this month, analysts at JMP Securities gave it an “outperform” rating.

A couple of big changes to AOL this morning. Arthur Minson, COO of the company, is stepping down from his role, and Susan Lyne has been named CEO of AOL’s Brand Group.

Minson was named CFO of the company in 2009, then was promoted to COO last summer. Minson will remain at AOL, but it’s uncertain for how long. “Artie has played a key role in the turnaround of AOL and that will continue in 2013 during the transition period,” said Tim Armstrong, CEO of AOL, in a statement.”

Lyne was most recently chairman and CEO of Gilt Groupe. In her new role she will oversee a variety of brands, including TechCrunch and Engadget. Arianna Huffington will of course continue to run The Huffington Post.

The tech blog gdgt has been purchased by AOL, according to a post by its co-founder, Ryan Block:

We got to talking further and realized that gdgt, its team, its technology, and perhaps most importantly its DNA, were a natural fit for AOL’s world-class lineup of tech sites. Well, one thing led to another, and here we are. We honestly couldn’t be more excited about adding gdgt to what is easily the most powerful, influential group of technology media brands in the world.

The acquisition means that AOL is starting to dominate the tech blog world. Along with gdgt, the company now owns Engadget, TechCrunch, Joystiq and TUAW. That’s quite a nice collection.

The deal is also sweet for Block, who will now be head of product for AOL Tech Media, according to TechCrunch.

For AOL, the fourth quarter of 2012 was a solid one. According to its earnings report, the company posted year-over-year revenue growth for the first time in eight years. During 2011′s fourth quarter, AOL earned $22.8 million in net income, while last year it pulled in $35.7 million.

The reasons for the good close to 2012? AOL saw a 17 percent percent jump in its search business and a 31 percent bump in its third-party ad business.