Citing the need to put greater emphasis on its advertising business, AOL said it will move its headquarters to New York from Dulles, Va.

"Advertisers are asking you to be closer to them, to develop a much closer relationship to them," Ron Grant, AOL's president and COO told The Associated Press.

The move will affect AOL's most senior executives, who will join about 400 employees already working to help the struggling online giant transition from being an internet provider to an advertising heavyweight.

Grant said bringing sales, content and management teams together would help "expedite decision-making and improve value to advertisers."

Earlier this summer, AOL took the ad industry by surprise when it announced the purchase of behavioral targeting firm TACODA for a reported $275 million.