Google Android Point Man Jumps Ship
In his new role, Horowitz will oversee all of Coupons' worldwide engineering, product management and technology efforts, according to a statement from the company.
"Our business is experiencing unprecedented growth, and as we extend our digital promotions platform to in-store, in-appliance and mobile phones, this is the ideal time for Steve to bring his deep experience to our team," said Steven R. Boal, CEO and founder of Coupons, in a statement. "Steve is a business-minded, consumer-focused and battle-tested technology leader, and I couldn't be more thrilled that he is joining our team."
Through its Coupons.com DigitalFSI Network, 11-year-old Coupons provides software that allows marketers to create, distribute and track coupons on the Web. In 2008, the company said, consumers printed more than $300 million in savings off the Coupons platform -- a 140 percent increase since 2007 -- and its executives expect online coupons to grow even more popular as the economy continues to sputter.
"Coupons.com has fast become one of the world's leading online brands, so this is a very exciting opportunity," said Horowitz in a Coupons statement. "The company is at a pivotal point in its business, and I am eager to help further advance its development and deployment of new platforms and services for digital promotions."
In his three years at Google, Horowitz led the team of engineers that developed the Android mobile operating system, launched with T-Mobile in 2008. Horowitz originally came to Google after nine years at Microsoft, and before that, stints at Be Inc. and Apple.
In a statement, Google wished Horowitz the "best of luck" and thanked him "for all of his contributions," according to the Wall Street Journal.
Horowitz's departure from Google follows that of Dipchand Nishar, Google's former head of product development for the Asia-Pacific region, who left the search giant in December to become vice president of products at LinkedIn. Last year also saw the departures of Sheryl Sandberg, former vice president of global online sales and operations, who became chief operating officer for Facebook in March 2008, and Douglas Merrill, former chief information officer, who took over EMI Music's digital business in April 2008.