Live Lookup is no lengthier part with the larger Windows Live companies family, with regards to engineering and improvement.
1 by-product with the March 21 Microsoft announcement of the creation of a new Lookup and Ad Platform group got fairly small play. Consequently with the latest reorg, Live Lookup development is no longer under Senior Vice President Steven Sinofsky. Instead, Reside Lookup is now joined at the hip with Microsoft adCenter inside the type of a separate group.
Before Wednesday's announcement, Sinofsky, who heads Windows and Windows Live Engineering, had responsibility for the improvement of all with the Windows Live companies,
Microsoft Office 2010 Home And Business, including Live Search, Windows Reside Mail, Windows Reside Messenger, Reside.com and other members with the Windows Live family.
Now Reside Lookup will fall below Microsoft veteran Satya Nadella.
The newest online providers reorg at Microsoft comes at a time when Reside Lookup is struggling to catch up to Google and Yahoo. According to the February Nielsen NetRatings data, Live Lookup gained a bit of search marketshare (from 8.9 percent in January to 9.6 percent in February) — a positive change compared to 2006.
New Microsoft search chief Nadella joined Microsoft in 1992 from Sun Microsystems. In September 2006 assumed the role as business leader of the Microsoft Dynamics ERP and CRM item lines. Nadella, like Sinofsky, will report directly to Microsoft Platforms & Providers division head Kevin Johnson.
"I believe (Nadella) spent some time in online companies working on the ClearLead CRM platform, and then heading up bCentral,
Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010, so this isn't exactly a new place for him, although a much higher-profile and more important position," said Matt Rosoff, an analyst with Directions on Microsoft.
"I think it makes perfect sense to consolidate adCenter and Web search, and I'm only surprised it took Microsoft so long to do so," Rosoff added.
During his Microsoft tenure,
Office Home And Business, Nadella also has served as general manager with the Commerce Platforms Group and led the improvement efforts for Microsoft Commerce Server and Microsoft BizTalk Server. Nadella was also a key member of several advanced technology incubation efforts inside Microsoft,
Windows 7 Starter, including interactive television (ITV) and digital rights management (DRM), according to his bio on the Microsoft Web site.
In his new role, Nadella will have a handful of direct reports. Among Nadella's lieutenants:
* Rick Thompson, corporate VP in charge with the Windows Reside Advertising and Monetization Platform at Microsoft. (Windows vet Thompson spearheads the engineering efforts around adCenter, as well as the billing and subscription monetization teams.)
* Dane Glasgow, general manager for Live Search.
* Danielle Tiedt, general manager of lookup content acquisition with MSN
* Erik Jorgensen, general manager of Microsoft's search and mapping unit
* Ken Moss,
Microsoft Office 2007 Professional Plus, general manager of Microsoft lookup
* Mike Conte, general manager, MSN Marketplaces
Have any suggestions for Microsoft's new lookup chief?