The reaction to
AOL's new web portal wasn't entirely warm, as it looks just a little too much like one of its major competitors. Instead of scratching his head on the matter, our own Ryan Block of Weblogs Inc. / Engadget decided to ask David Liu, SVP of AOL Portals,
five questions on the new design and its motivations. As you would imagine from a VP, Liu's answers were riddled with PR-speak that doesn't actually reveal much other than 'yea, we were inspired,' but his final answer
does offer some interesting snippets about an upcoming revamp of myAOL.com, another of the company's portals (really guys - how many do you need?). Liu promises some intriguing innovation for the new portal, and even MIchael Arrington of
TechCrunch was apparently impressed with some early demos he got his hands on.
While we wait to see those promises fulfilled, check out Ryan's interview with David Liu to gain at least a little insight into why AOL's new portal looks just a little too familiar.