• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, September 3, 2015

Searchmetrics announced Thursday the appointment of former general manager -- a title similar to CEO in many European countries -- of Hewlett-Packard Germany, Volker Smid, to the role of CEO.

Smid previously managed all in-country operations at HP Germany, and from April 2005 to December 2008 served as president EMEA at Novell. He comes to Searchmetrics from Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, where he held the position of head of digital & technologies since February 2014, responsible for increasing the Group's focus on its online business.

In his role as CEO, Smid will help to accelerate international growth for Searchmetrics, which now generates half its sales in the United States. From offices in Berlin, San Mateo, New York, London and Paris, the company supports clients such as T-Mobile, eBay, TripAdvisor, Siemens, and Symantec.

"In recent years, Searchmetrics has revolutionized and fundamentally reshaped the industry," Smid said in a statement. "Managing big data and B2B SaaS provider with enormous global growth potential will provide tremendous opportunities. I am looking forward immensely to making my own contribution to the success of this outstanding company."