EMEA manager Dennis Woodside at Google Israel's launch: No timetable scheduled yet.
Search engine company Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) this morning announced the official launch of its operations in Israel. Making the announcement, Dennis Woodside, EMEA manager at Google, who oversees operations in 101 countries, said, “The quantity and quality of software engineers in Israel made it logical that we would open a R&D center here at some point, although we do not, as yet, have a timetable or organized schedule in place.”
Woodside added that Google would “convert” most of its products to Hebrew within the next 18 months. “We are currently in the process of recruiting employees but we cannot predict at this point how many people we will have twelve months hence, and will decide in accordance with developments in the coming months.”
Speaking at the launch, Google Israel CEO Meir Brand said Google had identified the Israeli surfer as a “search freak” and this reflected the extent of the business potential for the company in Israel.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on February 20, 2006