7 posts and columns on Omid Kordestani

Exclusive: Facebook Poaches Yet Another Major Googler–This Time, Ad Exec David Fischer [UPDATED]

in News on March 26, 2010 at 8:19 am PT

David Fischer–who was VP of Global Online Sales & Operations for Google and more recently was heading up its local efforts–is taking a job at Facebook as VP of Advertising and Global Operations, according to sources. The move by Fischer–which was also just announced internally at both Google and Facebook and has just been confirmed by Facebook–is yet another in a series of top execs at the search giant to defect to the fast-growing social networking site. And it will surely raise tensions between the companies, which are increasingly becoming rivals in several major Internet arenas and opposing poles of power in Silicon Valley.

Another Googler Gone: DoubleClick Boss David Rosenblatt Leaves for… Nothing

in Media on April 29, 2009 at 3:45 pm PT

Doesn’t anybody want to sell ads for the world’s biggest media company anymore? David Rosenblatt, the former CEO of DoubleClick, who joined Google when it acquired his company last year, is leaving May 15. A person familiar with Rosenblatt’s plans says he doesn’t have a job lined up and plans to take the summer off. He’s the fourth top ad sales executive at Google to step down since March.
rosenblatt

Google Still Shaking Up Sales Force: Nikesh Arora Replaces Omid Kordestani

in Media on April 16, 2009 at 1:31 pm PT

Here’s the other shoe that hadn’t dropped following Tim Armstrong’s move from Google to run Time Warner’s AOL. Omid Kordestani, who was the official head of Google’s sales, has been moved aside in favor of Nikesh Arora.
nikesh

More Layoffs for Google: 200 Axed From Sales

in Media on March 26, 2009 at 12:52 pm PT

Google is laying off 200 people from its sales and marketing group, the company announced today in a blog posting. Google has some 20,000 employees, so the scale of the sackings isn’t earth-shaking news. But the fact that they come from the group that Tim Armstrong ran until he decamped for AOL is interesting.

Google Names Company Veteran Dennis Woodside to Replace Tim Armstrong as Ad Lead

in News on March 17, 2009 at 4:16 pm PT

That was fast. Longtime–well, five years, which is a dog’s age at the search giant–Google sales exec Dennis Woodside will become VP, Americas Operations, replacing outgoing exec Tim Armstrong, who was named chairman and CEO of Time Warner online unit AOL last week. Woodside will start in the next few weeks, said Google in an internal communication about the appointment, as Armstrong transitions from Google to AOL.
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Google Rewards Execs for a Job Sort Of Well Done

in Media on March 3, 2009 at 4:08 am PT

Wall Street bonuses have shrunk, but they haven’t gone away. And at Google, top executive bonuses look pretty much like last year’s. Here’s the list of who got what.

Voices

Live-Blogging Google's Earnings Call

in News on January 22, 2009 at 4:10 pm PT

Google today reported a year-over-year decline in fourth-quarter profit, hurt by $1.09 billion in write-downs related to AOL and Clearwire. Operating earnings rose, however, and revenue climbed 18 percent to $5.70 billion from the year-earlier period. Google’s revenue, excluding traffic-acquisition costs, was $4.22 billion, above the Thomson Reuters estimate of $4.12 billion. Earnings per share, excluding certain items, was $5.10, beating estimates. The company also announced plans for an options exchange program for workers whose stock options are underwater.