AOL CEO Tim Armstrong's FaceAOL just bought a company called four days after the product officially launched.

Well done, AOL!

Two years ago, it would have taken months just to get the internal-approval paperwork done. And AOL would have been so paralyzed by its post-traumatic stress disorder that it likely would only have gotten interested in doing the deal after all the other potential buyers had already made bids. And would have chosen to work with almost any other company over AOL.  And so on.

Instead, AOL appears to have made a pre-emptive bid for a hot startup, taking it off the market.

Regardless of what happens with this deal, as Steve Case has said, it's good to see AOL playing offense again.

See Also: CEO Tony Conrad: Here's Why I Sold My Company To AOL So Quickly