Google Announces a Major Shakeup in its Executive Team

Google has announced four key leadership changes as current execs Jen Fitzpatrick, Jerry Dischler, Prabhakar Raghavan, and Ben Gomes all take on new roles.

Fitzpatrick will head up Google’s core and corporate engineering teams after spending the last 6 years at the helm of the company’s Geo team. She has worked at Google for the last 20 years and held positions on the company’s Search, Ads, News, and Shopping teams. She also co-founded the company’s user experience team.

Dischler, a 10-year veteran of Google Ads, has been appointed to run the Ads division. He initially joined Google in 2005 and became the head of Search Ads in 2013.

Raghavan, who initially joined Google in 2012, has been appointed as the new head of Search and Geo after spending the last 2 years leading Ads and Commerce. In his new role, he will continue to oversee Google’s Commerce and Payments departments and report directly to CEO Sundar Pichai.

Gomes, a 20-year Google veteran and the former head of Search and Assistant, will now lead the company’s various education and learning initiatives. In his new role, he will be responsible for tying Google’s education products more closely to its core offerings. Gomes will remain a product and technical advisor on the Search team.

In an internal email obtained by Search Engine Land and confirmed by Google, Pichai stated that Fitzpatrick and Gomes “mentioned they were ready for new challenges,” and that he “took the opportunity to make some changes across our flagship knowledge products and help them work together more seamlessly.”

Pichai also stated, “Personally, I think it’s always good to see leaders embracing this type of career mobility as it helps bring fresh perspectives to our teams.”

Google’s internal restructuring comes as the company grapples with a slowdown in ad revenue growth due to the coronavirus pandemic. Last month Google reportedly rescinded over 2,000 contract and temporary job offers in an effort to reduce spending.