Google Loses Search PR Director Gabriel Stricker To Twitter

Gabriel Stricker is still listed on Google as Director of Communications, Search. However he’s now VP of Communications for Twitter. He follows Karen Wickre, Google’s former Senior Media Liaison, who joined Twitter about seven months ago. And quite some time before that, Carolyn Penner left Google’s PR team for Twitter.

I also noticed that Shailesh Rao, who was once director of local for Google and then later the managing director of Google India recently became VP of International Revenue for Twitter.

Stricker was at Google for more than 5 years, when many people start to get the “wandering eye.” It appears that Stricker’s announcement of his departure from Google was his very first tweet.

Twitter and Google have been occasional antagonists, most recently around the launch of SPYW and integration of Google+ content into search, which Stricker would have defended against Twitter accusations that it was self-serving. Now he will undoubtedly have to present and promote anti-Google positions from time to time.

Twitter’s communications team is now fully staffed with former Google people. Then again a big chunk of Facebook’s top-level executives are from Google.