Who’d have thought that a DC-area company formerly known as Quantum Computer Services would be topping Google, eBay, and other online innovators in advertising potential? In a Washington Post article about Nielsen’s new system for rating web sites — a guiding light for advertising dollars — Dulles, Va.-based AOL tops the list.

This news probably won’t upend Google’s dominance on the web, but it might help change some attitudes about whether Greater Washington is a home for innovation. Companies like Google and Microsoft have helped their hometowns establish themselves as centers for innovation. But despite the presence of companies like AOL, XM Radio, Lockheed Martin and legions of researchers and scientists engaged in cutting-edge work, Greater Washington is more often perceived as a place for plodding bureaucrats and Beltway bandits.

What do you think? Is there hope to turn around this perception? Or are federal images of the region too strong to overcome?

Filed under: Regional News