Even among partners, Facebook is making life increasingly difficult for tech titans, and particularly so in area of talent retention. Case in point: Microsoft is losing Carolyn Everson -- who led
global ad sales across Bing, MSN, and Windows Live -- to Facebook. "Apparently, it's not only in Google's pond where Facebook fishes for talent," quips BoomTown's Kara Swisher. "The move will surely cause some tensions with the software
giant, which is both a prominent partner of and investor in Facebook, especially since Everson was only hired at Microsoft last June after a long search."
"Employees have regularly gone back
and forth between the two companies for jobs, though Everson represents one of the more high-profile departures," CNet
writes. "Looks like [Facebook treats] their partners much like their account holders," scolds Marketing Pilgrim. "If they need to screw you, they will and
they won't blink or lose a minute of sleep over it. Heck, it's just business, right?!" Business, indeed. As Swisher notes: "Having a top exec who is amenable to and well known by Madison Avenue is key
for Facebook as it ramps up its business, in anticipation of an IPO next year."
Yet, as sources tell Swisher, losing Everson can't be blamed entirely on Facebook. For one, the sales head was increasingly frustrated by the "intense focus" on pushing traffic to Microsoft's Bing search service from its MSN portal. Everson was also reportedly frustrated that she couldn't offer marketers search advertising under the terms of Microsoft's recently enacted ad partnership with Yahoo.