Longtime Google exec Nick Fox to take interim commerce business post

Longtime Google exec Nick Fox will take over the company’s commerce and payments business on an interim basis.

Fox’s appointment comes a day after the former head, Bill Ready, announced he is taking over the helm of Pinterest, replacing longtime CEO and founder Ben Silbermann.

Nick Fox will lead Google’s “Commerce, Payments and Next Billion Users,” according to a person familiar with the matter. He will report to Google’s Search boss and SVP Prabhakar Raghavan. In the meantime, the company will conduct a search for a permanent successor.

Fox has been with Google for nearly 19 years and has led segments like ads, search and the company’s “Assistant” artificial intelligence-based software. He also led product management for Google’s communication products, including Hangouts, Duo and Allo as well as the company’s cellular plan Google Fi (formerly known as Project Fi).

Prior to his time at Google, Fox was a consultant with McKinsey in Palo Alto, California, where he worked on corporate finance and strategy for technology companies.

Despite past failed attempts, Google is again trying to compete in e-commerce with the likes of Amazon, Facebook and other rivals who have reeled in record digital shopping sales since the beginning of Covid-19 pandemic. The company has a shopping tab on its core search product and has been trying to incorporate more purchasing options into its platforms like YouTube. While the company has made many more — albeit slow — attempts to bring buyers to its search page, executives have referred to it as more of a “long-term opportunity.” 

“Bill has played a key role in setting a new vision and strategy for Commerce and Payments at Google,” a Google spokesperson said of Ready, who joined the company in January 2020. “We will continue building on this strong foundation to make helpful, commerce experiences universally accessible for our users and our partners. We are grateful for Bill’s leadership and wish him all the best in his new role at Pinterest.”