CNET reports that long-time Google employee Susan Wojcicki will soon become the CEO of YouTube. Many insiders expect Wojcicki’s background in ads to be beneficial as the free video service continues to grow. Here are some fast facts about this developing story.
1. Wojcicki Was Google’s SVP of Ads & Commerce
Susan Wojcicki an obvious choice to boost YouTube – but Google to lose their 16th employee and great leader of Ads
— MadeleineStorr (@MadeleineStorr) February 5, 2014
Wojcicki’s most recent position was as Google’s SVP of Ads & Commerce. She has been with the company a long time, and was actually the 16th person the company hired, according to Business Insider.
TechCrunch adds that Wojcicki was also Google’s first marketing manager, as well as an important Google insider during the development of AdSense.
2. Wojcicki’s Garage is a Google Landmark
Wojcicki is an important part of Google’s legacy. According to Forbes, it was Wojcicki’s garage (pictured above) that was used as an early base of operations by Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
3. Susan Wojcicki is a YouTube Fan
Some of the cool YouTube @YouTube ads of 2013: http://t.co/vkS0SNrOmz
Nice to see so much creativity!
— Susan Wojcicki (@SusanWojcicki) December 17, 2013
According to Re/code, Susan Wojcicki is on the record as being a big fan of YouTube. She spoke at Google’s developer conference last year, and stated that she supported Google’s move to buy YouTube back in 2006.
4. YouTube Is a Cash Cow
According to eMarketer, YouTube earned about $5.60 billion in gross ad revenues during 2013. While gross revenues are always more than net revenues, it’s still an impressive amount of cash.
Some of that ad money likely supports YouTube’s $25 million production facility in LA, shown in the video above.
5. Wojcicki Replaces Salar Kamangar
TechCrunch reports that Susan Wojcicki will replace current YouTube head Salar Kamangar. In turn, Kamanger is expected to move into a new position at Google.
In the extended interview above, Wojcicki talks about the future of online advertising and her time at Google.