AOL Vet Bosco Joins ComScore as Head of Products

ComScore recruited a longtime AOL veteran to oversee development of its research products. Eric Bosco joins the company after 14 years with AOL, where he led many of its important ad-related acquisitions.

Most recently, Bosco was SVP of global products and U.S. operations at AOL Advertising. In that capacity he was a driving force behind the acquisitions of ad network firms like Quigo, Tacoda, and Third Screen Media.

But he also oversaw publisher and campaign operations, two areas where AOL has been criticized for falling behind in recent years. In recent comments at an investor conference, new CEO Tim Armstrong said the company’s ad and site operations appeared integrated without actually being so. He also noted the company maintained 17 different content systems when he took over last year.

“The company had Platform A and MediaGlow that sounded like integrated platforms, but they weren’t,” Armstrong said.

The statement echoed earlier complaints by media buyers, including David Smith, CEO of Mediasmith.

“Just because someone names something differently doesn’t make it more integrated,” Smith told ClickZ several months after the launch of AOL’s ill-fated Platform-A ad sales unit. “Platform-A is just a name.”

In an earlier role at AOL, Bosco led development of the company’s e-mail, AIM, and social media products as VP of communications and community products.

As chief product officer, Bosco — a fluent speaker of four languages — will help define comScore’s global portfolio of ad planning, effectiveness, and other research tools.

“During his career, Eric has distinguished himself as one of our industry’s premier innovators in the development of consumer and digital advertising application products,” said comScore COO Greg Dale in a statement.