I just sent out this week’s job listings newsletter. Shopzilla alone has 58 openings…makes sense that one of them would be for a Senior Recruiter.
I’ve always viewed job listings as a way to find out what’s happening with the competition. Here are 2 insights from this week….
First, MSN has a position open for a MapPoint Lead Program Manager:
The MapPoint Business Unit builds Virtual Earth, MapPoint Web Service, MSN Maps & Directions, Streets & Trips, MapPoint, Pocket Streets and platform to support MSN Mobile Maps & Directions, Microsoft MapPoint Location Server and Windows Mobile applications for Pocket PC and Smartphone. The MapPoint team recently merged into a newly formed MSN Local Search organization in MSN Search to leave no stone unturned in this battle with Google, Yahoo and AOL to be the leader in mapping and Local Search. MapPoint, Virtual Earth and Local Search are all growing teams and provide excellent career growth opportunities.
Ok, while this job isn’t directly related to comparison shopping, it’s GREAT to see MSFT taking local search seriously. Because of Google Map APIs, people finally see potential for local search and local advertising. The position above came up because the lead program manager is also responsible for “forging and managing internal partner relationships (MSN Search, MSN Spaces, MSN Shopping, MSN IM, MSN Mobile, MSN Photos etc.). In case you missed it, MSN Shopping is included in that list. We’re not there yet, but there will be amazingly useful location based shopping services beyond the current generation of SMS offerings (which I don’t think anyone is using). Pure play comparison engines can’t ignore this opportunity.
If you’re looking for a unique perspective on Microscoft, you should check out Mini-Microsoft.
Second, Smarter.com today listed 15 additional positions at it’s China (Shanghai) office. Last year everyone seemed to be buzzing around the shopping comparison engines moving into Europe…I couldn’t figure out why no one was talking about Asia. No official word on a launch date for Smarter.com’s China site, but it’s obviously coming up soon.
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