“AOL renegotiated deals with failing dot coms; and in a deal with eBay, booked all of the revenue generated from the resulting transactions as gross revenue, rather than simply its commission. AOL also scrambled to turn an arbitration settlement with a British entertainment company Wembley plc into an ad deal, lifting artwork without permission as it raced to put the ads online. $23 million that would have been booked as a special item was instead booked as advertising income. A similar deal was reached with TicketMaster, according to the Post.” The Register.
