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Facebook raids Google

Facebook Inc has raided Google Inc to hire a new chief operating officer, providing the popular online social network with more seasoned management and advertising savvy as it strives to make more money without alienating its audience.

Sheryl Sandberg's defection from Google, announced on Tuesday, represents a coup for Facebook just three months after it suffered a humiliating setback in its effort to inject more commercialism into its fun-loving Web site.

As Google's vice president of global online sales and operations for the past six years, Sandberg helped build the Internet search leader into one of the world's most prized companies. She also helped set up Google.org, the Mountain View-based company's philanthropic arm.

Before joining Google, she served as the US Treasury Department's chief of staff during the Clinton administration.

With Sandberg's hiring, effective March 24, Facebook fills a void created last summer when it reassigned its previous chief operating officer, Owen Van Natta, to chief revenue officer. Van Natta left Facebook last month.

Besides helping steer Facebook's expansion, Sandberg, 38, could serve as a mentor for the Palo Alto-based company's 23-year-old founder and chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, to whom she will report directly.

Sandberg said in an interview that she is just one of several veteran executives who can act as a sounding board for Zuckerberg. She also pointed to Gideon Yu, who became Facebook's chief financial officer in July after stints with Yahoo Inc, Google's YouTube and a venture capital firm.

"Mark is inspiring," Sandberg said. "He has more clarity and vision than just about anyone I ever met."

In an interview, Zuckerberg said he was counting on Sandberg to minimize Facebook's growth pains.

"Anyone who has ever worked with her raves about how she helped make them better managers," he said. "She has a terrific track record."

Sandberg's departure from Google comes amid widening fears on Wall Street that the advertising sales propelling Google's growth are bound to slow as the US economy flirts with a recession.

Worries about a general economic slowdown are the main reason Google's market value has plunged about 35 percent, or US$75 billion, already this year.

"I am certainly not leaving Google because there is anything wrong there," Sandberg said. "I think Google's best days are still ahead."

She said she simply couldn't turn down the chance to help Face-book shape the social networking craze that has swept up millions of teenagers and young adults.

Facebook's audience has more than tripled in the past 11 months to 66 million users, making it the second largest social network behind News Corp's MySpace.com.
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