On The Money: AOL traffic down since Huffington Post acquisition; NBCUniversal execs hit NATPE TV conference; Whitney Tilson appeared pensive before JCPenney surge; Kylie Minogue to perform at Sydney Mardi Gras - NYPOST.com

On The Money: AOL traffic down since Huffington Post acquisition; NBCUniversal execs hit NATPE TV conference; Whitney Tilson appeared pensive before JCPenney surge; Kylie Minogue to perform at Sydney Mardi Gras - NYPOST.com: Don’t expect Tim Armstrong to send Arianna Huffington flowers as an anniversary gift.

One year after getting into bed with the media princess and plunking down $315 million to buy the Huffington Post, the AOL boss has seen traffic on his Web site fall to where the ubiquitous e-mail voice should be saying, “You Got Nailed.”

Consider this: AOL had 78.9 million unique visitors prior to the acquisition. Recent Nielsen numbers show a drop-off to 73.6 million.

Analysts ripped Armstrong for overpaying at the time, and an OTM insider goes so far as to call it his “biggest mistake to date.”

“A total disaster from the beginning,” our source, who covers the market, said. “Between all the layoffs and redesign, it’s amazing anyone would want to work at HuffPo. They’re chasing the competition now rather than leading it.”

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