If you want to be a serious player in advertising, you need offices in New York. At least that's the theory behind AOL's move to the Big Apple. But for many, the move seems like a last-ditch effort for the troubled internet giant to transition its business model.

"It's important that they drive improvement in this business fast," Jordan Posner of Matrix Asset Advisors told The Boston Globe.

But for AOL, change has been something of a distraction in the last few months. Despite acquiring Bebo, the company has been plagued by management shakeups that saw the departure of Curt Viebranz, the former head of Platform-A. AOL has also lost Tacoda founder Dave Morgan and Kathy Kayse, VP of marketing solutions for Platform-A in recent months.

Still, Ron Grant, AOL's COO, remains optimistic.

"I know we have work to do," Grant said last week. "This is a turnaround. We're really well positioned to capitalize on a great market in advertising."

One small cause for optimism may be a content partnership deal with ESPN. Under the terms of the deal, AOL will become the first portal to gain access to ESPN's video content. AOL inked a similar deal with ABC for its primetime content last year.