As reported in The Globe & Mail
TECHNOLOGY REPORTER
Taking the reins of the Canadian operations for the world's most prolific online advertising machine in the midst of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression isn't what one might call ideal circumstances, but Jonathan Lister is confident he's up to the task.
As the new managing director and head of Google Canada, Mr. Lister is the man the online advertising kingpin has tapped to capitalize on a growing appetite for online exposure among Canadian marketers.
Already more than half of Google Inc.'s advertising revenue comes from outside the United States. Now, with American consumers sitting on their wallets and advertisers cutting spending in all areas, Google is looking to managers like Mr. Lister to increase the international revenue flowing into the company's coffers.
"Compared to the U.S. and Europe, the Canadian economy is so far holding up pretty well," he said in his first interview since taking the post a few weeks ago. "We haven't had the consumer withdrawal that the U.S. has seen to some extent. That gives me hope for the business and it looks good for online advertising in general."
Google had been without a national manager in Canada since Wendy Muller retired from the post in October, 2006.
Although Google is thought of primarily as a technology innovator best known for its omnipresent search engine, Mr. Lister is tied in closely to the advertising side of the company's business, which generates nearly all its revenue.
Mr. Lister's primary responsibility will be to increase the amount of Canadian content contributing to the company's search and display advertising totals, but he will also oversee a national network of employees that includes sales executives in Toronto, policy personnel in Ottawa and teams of engineers in both Waterloo, Ont., and Montreal.
"Canada is very important to Google, that's part of the reason I took the role," Mr. Lister said. "Frankly, for a large U.S. organization, I was impressed with how much they understand local markets. There's an incredible awareness of the Canadian marketplace, and international marketplaces in general."
Like many other technology companies, Google has felt the pangs of the global economic slowdown. Its stock is down 54 per cent since peaking at more than $740 (U.S.) in November, 2007, and last week the company posted its first ever quarterly profit drop.
Still, paid clicks - a major revenue engine for the company - were up 18 per cent over the same period a year ago and rose 10 per cent over the previous quarter, suggesting to some that Google may be in a unique position to weather the storm by offering advertisers measurable ways to track spending as they look to get the most promotional bang for their bucks.
For Mr. Lister - who was most recently senior vice-president of operations for Time Warner Inc.'s AOL Europe, but also spent time as general manager of AOL Canada Inc. - the downturn in the economy could prove to be the moment in history when Internet advertising finally proves its worth.
"There's a lot of speculation surrounding whether this is online's time, in a sort of perverse way," he said. "That was the hope through last year. As the economy looked worse and worse, there was some hope and belief that online would in fact start to work better, look better and pay off better in challenging times.
"The wild card will be consumer behaviours and whether consumers will open their wallets and spend."