Not all of them. Though AOL's Robert Pittman boasts that an effective marketing campaign beats a cheaper, stabler product, not everyone agrees. In one three-month period in 1996, AOL lost 1.7 million members in a single quarter, according to the Washington Post. Now Red Herring magazine takes a hard look at Pittman's statements -- and their inherent contradictions.

Others have called AOL "the most dysfunctional corporation in America" -- in part because of their constantly "evolving" positions on important issues. Has Steve Case been shifting his position about AOL's decision to use Microsoft's web browser instead of Netscape's as the default?