Twitter’s global advertising expansion will be driven by a former Google executive named Stephen McIntyre, it has emerged. McIntyre will direct the global ads expansion from Twitter’s new international HQ in Dublin.
It emerged today that Twitter has headhunted two high-profile Google executives. According to All Things Digital, the microblogging site has hired McIntyre as director of online sales and operations and Shailesh Rao as VP of international revenue. Twitter last night surpassed 500m subscribers.
Until recently, McIntyre headed Google’s international self-serve ads team in Ireland.
Twitter is expected to debut a self-serve product for businesses in March.
McIntyre is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin, Harvard University and Cornell University. He began his career as an engineer in the mobile telecoms industry, working for Nokia and Ericsson in Ireland, the UK, Portugal and Mexico. He joined Google in 2005.
It emerged in September that Twitter is to locate its international headquarters in Dublin, joining other key players in the internet world, including Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Zynga and many others.
In November, Siliconrepublic.com reported that Twitter hired its first Dublin employee and appointed Laurence O’Brien as financial controller for its EMEA operations.
