Darshan joins Snap to strengthen advertising

By Ibidunni Banjoko

Poised to improve ad performance, Snap Inc. the owner of the photo messaging app Snapchat, has hired Darshan Kantak, former vice president of Google Search Ads, as senior vice president of revenue product to help the tech company improve the performance of its digital ads.

Prior to working at Google, Darshan supported Facebook as an ads delivery product lead, and Microsoft as a partner, and group program manager for Bing Ads.

Darshan oversaw product development for Search, Shopping, and Discovery ads, and led the team responsible for Google Search and Retail Ads automation tools that allow advertisers to build advertising and marketing strategies.

Snap is rebuilding its ad-sales team after two key leaders left for Netflix last year. Long-time Microsoft executive Rob Wilks joined Snap last month to lead ad sales in the Americas.

Wilk announced in a LinkedIn post he would step down at Microsoft, and Kya Sainsbury-Carter, the first female to move into this position, replaced him.

Snap also wants to improve the way that ads lead to product sales. The company said in January that first-quarter revenue could decline as much as 10% due to weaker advertising demand.

Kantak will lead the teams that develop ad formats and also focus on improving how to measure and optimize the effectiveness of Snapchat ads, the company said.

Like other digital ad platforms, Snap has been hurt by privacy changes that Apple rolled out on iPhones in 2021, which made it more difficult for apps to measure how their ads can lead to website visits or sales.

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