Dailymotion, DoubleClick, AltaVista all appear on resume, too.”
AOL has appointed an ex-Google executive to help head up its Bebo social media network.
AOL’s Bebo considerably appears to be growing a little more powerful in terms of personnel; like Yahoo, Google has now become a target for talent acquisition over the past years, although it is not seizing directly from a certain search giant, the social network’s newest hire acted as an exec at Dailymotion, and some time before that, Google.
Ex-Google UK Managing Director Kate Burns, barely four months after she served at video sharer Dailymotion as its’ first UK MD, has been hired by AOL’s social networking giant Bebo, to help head Bebo Europe as its new Vice President and Managing Director. She served the French-owned site as it expected to break into the UK market.
“Burns will join Bebo on August 4 in her new position. She will be responsible of expanding business operations in the UK and across Europe.”
Burns, who was earlier active in launching ad network Doubleclick and search engine Altavista in the UK and has also worked at News International, will be responsible for Bebo operations in the UK, Ireland and Poland.
She will lead an ambitious expansion plan that will see the social networking website launch in Italy, Spain, Germany, France and the Netherlands in the next quarter.
Burns will join Bebo on August 4, to plug a few of the gaps made by Bebo president Joanna Shields, a key figure behind the $850m sale of the company to AOL, promoted to the role of president of AOL’s newly formed People Networks and chief executive of Bebo.
“Kate has a proven record in the UK’s digital media industry, having played a key role in its development over the last decade,” said Shields. “Her creativity and enthusiasm makes Kate the likely choice for this new role as Bebo looks to further strengthen its position internationally.”
Burns was Google’s first non-US-based employee, and her background is very enterprising and search related, with previous involvement in DoubleClick and Altavista. She left the company in 2006, citing reasons of needing a break and wanting to spend more time with her family. Since then, she has worked at Adlink and has consulted for Buy.at, the affiliate marketer bought by AOL.
It has given a tough blow to Dailymotion, as it tries to find advertisers and MotionMaker video rev share contributors across the English Channel, though Burns did pad her team out last month with the addition of ex-Googler Gareth Walton as commercial director.
Shields, who left her role as Google’s managing director for partnerships across Europe, Middle East and Africa in January last year to join Bebo, worked with Burns during her 18 months at the search engine giant.
The two know each other from their Google London days — Shields was EMEA MD and Burns joined Google in 2001 and rose to become its managing director for the UK, Ireland and the Benelux countries, but took a career break in 2006 to spend more time with her family.
“Bebo has been at the very centre of the dramatic changes we have witnessed in the media landscape over the past two years,” said Burns, who has also worked at Yahoo, Ziff Davis and News International.
“I am looking forward to becoming part of Bebo’s extraordinary management team and to working on one of the most engaged websites in the UK to continue to develop this rapidly growing business.”
“Burns will be based at Bebo’s international headquarters in London.”
Comscore puts the global number of monthly unique users for MySpace and Facebook at more than 110 million each, while Bebo has about 30 million.
Since AOL spent $850 million to acquire Bebo — and since onlookers often suggested that price was too high — she will be under quite a bit of pressure to perform well. But that helps explain why the company went after such an experienced (and presumably expensive) hand.