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Neal Mohan, a Google SVP for its display and video advertising business, is now SVP for Google’s other video business, YouTube. He will be head of product, a newly created position that signals the video behemoth is angling to ward off rivals, namely Facebook.
Paul Muret, a 10-year Google vet who leads its analytics arm, will step into Mohan’s seat. Google is folding the analytics division, which offers tools for ads measurement, into its display operations — a sign that the search giant sees measurement as core to its online ads business (which is, like YouTube, going up against Facebook).
Ad Age first reported the move, and a Google spokesperson confirmed it.
Mohan is also a Google vet — and a sought-after exec. He has been the target of poaching attempts from Twitter and, more recently, Dropbox, which tried (unsuccessfully) to nab him for head of product.
Many people close to, but outside of, YouTube thought Mohan was already at YouTube. For over a year, he has been working more closely with the video network and its chief, Susan Wojcicki. YouTube is currently rolling out its inaugural subscription service.
Last month, Google’s new CEO, Sundar Pichai, made his first executive promotions, christening Mohan and two others with the rare SVP title. Mohan will report to Wojcicki, who welcomed him on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/SusanWojcicki/status/667052874782806017
When the Alphabet hubbub arrived in August, many wondered why YouTube was not its own separate subsidiary. It has its own CEO, after all. Smart people speculate that YouTube’s operations and ads business are too critical to Google to untangle the two.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
