A new report from the Wall Street Journal just out say that Google has made more major executive staffing and organizational changes today, breaking up the Maps and Commerce units, with SVP Jeff Huber stepping down from his position in charge of those divisions.
The news comes just a day after Google announced another major shakeup, by replacing Andy Rubin with Sundar Pichai as the head of its Google Android division. Huber, whose official title had been SVP of Geo and Commerce, has been with Google since 2003. Huber will move to Google X, which is the experimental division headed by Sergey Brin where Google works on its more ambitious projects like Google Glass.
Google’s Mapping unit will now become part of the Google search division, led by SVP Alan Eustace, and commerce will join the advertising team under SVP Susan Wojcicki, according to the WSJ. These changes were announced within Google alongside the change around Andy Rubin, Pichai and Android leadership.
Huber earned the title of SVP of Commerce and Local in 2011, moving from a previously held position as SVP of Engineering. It’s worth noting that Google announced yesterday that it was shutting down the Search API for Shopping, in order to shift focus to building a “better shopping experience for users through Google Shopping.” Overall, the company seems to be making moves to streamline its product offerings (killing some beloved services in the mix), as well as the management team and internal organization.
Frederic suggested yesterday that exiting Android chief Rubin might also be finding a place at Google X. The company seems to be putting more investment into that department, perhaps based on recent interest in high-profile projects originating form that unit like Google Glass and driverless cars. Staffing up what is arguably the most exciting center of innovation at Google could be a nice byproduct of making sure the management team and overall corporate structure is as efficient as it can be.
Huber tweeted the following from his personal account, confirming the shift: