(4 May 2009 6:00 pm)

MUMBAI: US net service provider AOL has announced that Jeff Levick will join the company as president, global advertising and strategy.

In this new and expanded role, Levick will be responsible for Platform-A, AOL's advertising business, as well as developing global revenue strategies. Levick comes to AOL from Google, where he was most recently VP of industry development and marketing for the Americas. He will report directly to AOL chairman and CEO Tim Armstrong.

Armstrong said, "Our goal at AOL is to create great content and products, as well as make our advertising offerings the best in the industry for marketers and we are putting together the strategy to achieve that. I'm delighted that Jeff will be coming on board to lead this effort. I've worked with Jeff for more than seven years at Google, and he is absolutely the right person to drive growth in our premium ad sales, dramatically scale our Advertising.com business, and further develop AOL's research initiatives and consumer insights."

Levick added, "This is a perfect time to join AOL and I firmly believe that AOL's best days are ahead of it. The company has one of the largest and most engaged audiences on the web, some of the best advertising technology in the business, and a powerful third-party network. There is great opportunity here for us to capture."

As a result of this change, Greg Coleman will be leaving Platform-A, where he has served as president since early February 2009.

Armstrong adds, "In only a short time, Greg made a strong imprint on Platform-A's sales organization – reorganizing and refocusing the team. I appreciate his efforts and know that they will contribute to the work that lies ahead with Platform-A."

Levick will officially join AOL in the coming weeks. At Google, Levick was responsible for business marketing activities for the Americas as well as sales development and strategy for all of the vertical industries covered by Google's Americas sales organization. Levick joined Google in 2001 and has held various executive management positions in the company's advertising sales organisation in both North America and Europe.