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Microsoft's ad development to be overseen by Westbury

Damon Westbury has been appointed as head of category development at Microsoft's advertising development division.

Mr Westbury, who previously worked as client sales director at handbag.com, will now oversee category development managers at Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions, as part of the company's attempts to increase advertising revenue from retail, technology, entertainment and other sectors.

Previously, he worked at the company as category development manager for the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector, where he picked up a strong understanding of individual marketplaces.

Marketing website Mad.co.uk reports that Mr Westbury said: "With the online-ad market set to overtake TV advertising in 2009 brands are now truly embracing digital as a critical element of the modern advertising campaign.

"As online becomes the medium where brands can most effectively engage with their customers, we will continue to build on leadership in the sector by creating relevant and engaging campaigns and solutions based on our in-depth understanding of individual markets."

Last month (March 20th), Mr Westbury was involved in a panel debate of the Internet Advertising Bureau, arguing that brands should be allowed to advertise to children online.

After the debate, those in favour of online advertising targeted towards children grew to 77 per cent, while those against fell to 15 per cent, from 72 per cent and 23 per cent respectively before the debate began.
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