After the Android chief Andy Rubin stepped aside, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s head of mapping and commerce business Jeff Huber stepped aside in a management shift, people familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal. Jeff Huber, who has been with the company for over a decade, will join Google X, the Sergey Brin-led unit which is currently working on Google Glass and automatic car technology.
Alan Eustace-led search team will now manage the mapping unit as well, and the commerce division will become a part of the advertising group which is headed by Susan Wojcicki. The management reshuffle was announced internally, after the announcement of Andy Rubin’s departure from Android operating system. Android is now headed by Sundar Pichai, who leads the Chrome browser and OS team.
With the reshuffle, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) will have only five core product groups from seven. Jeff Huber has worked on several complicated products of the company including Google Maps, Google Wallet, Google Earth, Google Offers and the online shopping search site. Most recently, Huber’s team worked on creating a product that will allow local businesses to deliver products from store shelves to the customers’ doorstep within a few hours or a day.
After joining the search engine giant in 2003, Jeff Huber ran the software engineering unit of the company’s advertising division. He played a key role in improving AdSense and AdWords. When Sergey Brin left the post of CEO to focus on Google X, Jeff Huber was promoted to the post of senior vice president. Before joining the search engine giant, Huber worked with the e-commerce giant eBay Inc.
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) also revealed yesterday that it has decided to close down Google Reader on July 1 in a cleaning attempt. The company said it needs to focus on more important products. The company also closed Snapseed Desktop for Windows and Mac.
